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THE 



KING OF GLORY 



-OR- 



THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS 



■IN 



THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 



■W1TH- 



THEIR PRECIOUS AND PRACTICAL LESSONS 
TO HUMANITY. 



REV. LEROY McWHERTER, B. S., 
ii 

Author of "The Three Kingdoms," and Minister in the C. P. Church. 



2 



PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, 

GREENE VILLE, TENN. 
1885. 

\ 







Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1884, by 

L. McWHERTER, 

tn the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D, C. 

ELECTROTYPED AT THE FRANKLIN TYPE FOUNDRY, CINCINNATI, O. 





TO 

The Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who died for me, and 
hath washed me in his own blood, unto whom is ascribed 
power, dominion and glory forever, is this little volume 
most humbly and affectionately dedicated, 

By the Author. 





The King of Glory is Lord of all, 

The Majesty of Heaven, before whom we fail— 

A Royal Prince, on a royal throne, 

With a sceptre of love and a power unknown. 



Who is this King of Glory ? the Lord of hosts ; * * * the 
Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle, he is the King 
of Glory. — Bible 



This King of Glory, or Lord of hosts, 
Is the Morning Star of a world once lost; 
The Sun of Righteousness, shining bright, 
O'er lands once wrapped in sable night. 




^I^EP AGE 



The divine record, which gives the life-story of Jesus, is incom- 
plete. The inspired historians are silent upon many points of intense 
interest. The four Evangelists give but a brief synopsis of the public 
ministry of the Heavenly Missionary. Their Gospels are all confess- 
edly fragmentary, omitting even to catalogue many of his mighty 
miracles and matchless discourses. What little they have given, how- 
ever, suggests, to the fruitful imagination, much more that must have 
happened to fill up the vacant spaces in, and give symmetry and full- 
ness to, the sacred story. 

The grandest lessons of the Saviour's life touch our hearts most 
deeply, when our vivid imaginations supply much, which makes them 
more human and home-like. The force, fervor and fullness of his 
words, works and ways sink deepest into our souls, when we link pos- 
itive with revealed truth and, with his sacred biographers, view his 
grand, but mysterious life from the varied stand-points of a four-fold 
Gospel. The power and glory of that divine, but humanized life can 
only be seen and felt, in all its richness and adaptation to the wants 
of suffering humanity, when its precious, and practical lessons stand 
out before the world as the fruits of the most vivid imaginations, or 
the products of the most highly cultured intellects. These grand les- 
sons, of his matchless life, are ever lifting men to a truer, purer and 
nobler manhood, while the saddest memories, of his vicarious death, 
are constantly opening new fountains of joy and gladness in the souls 
of redeemed humanity. 

In this volume we have gone back of the cradle, and beyond the 
cross. Yet we are not unconscious of the fact, that we have but im- 
perfectly written a life, which was perfect in all its parts — infinitely 
perfect in its embryo state, and absolutely perfect in all its grand de- 
velopments. Yours truly, 

L. McWHERTER. 



(90NIHBNIPS 



^~o~o 

CHAPTER 

I. The Nativity of the King 


PAGB 

7 


II. 


The Infancy of the King 


• 25 


III. 


The Childhood of the King . 


• 43 


IV. 


The Boyhood of the King 


• 54 


V. 


The Nature of the King .... 


. 71 


VI. 


The Titles of the King .... 


106 


VII. 


The Ministry of the King 


• 139 


VIII. 


The Crucifixion of the King . 


. 184 


IX. 


The Resurrection of the King 


. 215 


X. 


The Ascension of the King 


. 246 




THE NATIVITY OF THE KING. 



Chapter I 



Unto us a child is bom. — Is a. 9:6. 



The birth of Jesus is the greatest event upon record. 
It is one of the grandest links in the world's history. 
The night of the King's nativity was the beginning of 
a new era to all subsequent ages. The Manger of 
Bethlehem was the birth-place of new hopes, and a bet- 
ter history for struggling humanity through all time to 
come. 

The King of Glory became a Helpless Babe ; took 
upon himself the form of a servant, and was found in the 
likeness of mortal man, that he might fill the world with 
the wonders of his grace, and heaven itself with the full- 
ness of his glory. His birth mingled the fears of help- 
less humanity with the brightest expectations of future 
happiness. At his incarnation, the star of hope, like a 
signal-light, hung in beauty and loveliness upon the 
eastern horizon of a dark and benighted world. In his 
life, the sorrows of earth ripened into the joys of heaven. 
And in his death, the shame and agony of the Cross 
melted away into the sceptre of power and the throne 
of glory. 

Jesus was most emphatically a Child of both prom- 
ise and prophecy. The declarations of the venerable 

(7) 



8 PROMISE AND PROPHECY. 

patriarchs, and the predictions of the ancient prophets 
blended with perfect harmony in pointing to the advent, 
and describing, with the utmost accuracy and clearness, 
the person, character and glory of the Coming Messiah. 
Some of these interesting promises and Messianic proph- 
ecies were confided to ancient tradition for the benefit 
of those ages; but the more important were consigned 
to the Sacred Records for perpetual preservation. The 
pious Jews and the devout of all nations waited long and 
anxiously, with deepest solicitude and most ardent de- 
sires, for the confirmation of these sublime declarations, 
and the consummation of these inspired predictions. 

Strange as it may seem, in the Saviour's mysterious 
and miraculous birth we have simply the verification of 
many precious promises, and the fulfillment of many 
princely prophecies given to the world centuries before 
the advent of Heaven's earth-born King. Yes, as a 
prelude to his coming, the unerring fingers of promise 
and prophecy pointed, for thousands of years, to the 
time and place of his manifestation in the flesh. Fi- 
nally, the Pledged King made his strange appearance, 
and light broke in upon a dark, dead world, to roll in 
floods of glory over the great sea of human life. 

Jesus was truly a Child of Promise. The Old Testa- 
ment is full of pledges the most sacred of a Coming 
Saviour. The primitive promise, made to Adam, pointed 
to Christ as the Seed of the Woman destined to bruise 
the serpent's head. The leading promises, made to 
Abraham, found their fulfillment in the person and pur- 
poses of Jesus. He was also the Seed through which 
this patriarchal father was to bless all the families or 
nations of the earth. Heaven's richest benediction up- 



A CHILD OF PROMISE. 9 

on the head of this ancient worthy contained a most 
positive promise of a Coming Messiah, through his lin- 
eage. It assured him that the Seed promised to Eve 
should also be the Offspring of his own royal progeny. 
Jesus was just as truly the Promised Seed of Abraham 
as he was the Immaculate Son of God. He was both 
the Promised Prince of Israel and the Pledged Re- 
deemer of the world. The captive race waited and 
watched with deepest interest, most intense anxiety, 
and, at times, with brightest anticipations for its Royal 
Deliverer. Israel's types and shadows, symbols and 
sacrifices, private fasts and public festivals, all kept 
prominently before the minds of the people her Prom- 
ised King. They also bore the most sacred testimony 
to all nations, of his exalted character and merciful mis- 
sion amonqr men. 

The fabulous legends of antiquity contain many brill- 
iant points illustrative of the miraculous birth, marvel- 
ous life, and mysterious destiny of the Virgin's Son. 
The true and the beautiful of these old legends found 
their fulfillment in the person of the Nazarene, and 
were but the symbols of his most eventful life. Many 
of these trite traditions were preserved by means of 
unique and poetical images, until they made an indeli- 
ble impression upon the mind of the ancient world. 
These traditional legends betoken the possibility, at 
least, that God portrayed more fully to our first parents 
the nature and mission of the Promised King, than he 
afterwards gave to the Jews through Divine Revela- 
tion. Hebrew tradition itself annihilates the pernicious 
effects of the fall by means of a Voluntary Oblation, the 
offering of a Just Man, who was to be the salvation of 



IO A CHILD OF PROPHECY. 

all who put their trust in him. The traditions of the 
Arabs also taught that an indulgent and merciful God 
would finally vouchsafe to fallen man a Way through 
which to implore his unmerited forgiveness. These 
and similar traditions, associated with the bloody sacri- 
fices of innocent victims, established among all nations, 
kept alive in the memory of many generations, the 
Promised Victim, which was afterwards slain upon 
Calvary. 

Jesus was preeminently a Child of Prophecy. The 
prophetic age was burdened with the predictions of a 
Coming Deliverer. The highest anticipations of deliv- 
erance were at times almost universal. The popular 
mind of the Jews was often wrought to its highest ten- 
sion. Burning hopes glowed through these Messianic 
prophecies, like fire through the clouds of heaven. 
They fired the hearts and centered the thoughts of all 
Israel on the one great event of time — the Nativity 
of the King of Glory. The millions of pilgrims, who 
flocked to the annual feasts at Jerusalem, carried these 
expectations of a great coming Jewish King throughout 
all the nations of the earth. The sequel shows that 
this prophecy was not speculative. Inspired predic- 
tions never harmonize with erroneous or mere specula- 
tive opinions. Inspiration's truths are all absolute. 
They reflect the lights of heaven and the shades of hell. 

Ancient sages had been singing for centuries of a 
brighter and better day that would dawn in the fullness 
of time upon their wretched race. The songs of Zion's 
seers were rich with the thought that the King of Glory 
at his coming would usher in a golden age upon a world 
steeped in sin and saddened with sorrow. The voice 



THE GOLDEN CHAIN OF PROPHECY. I I 

of inspiration had been heard, all along down through 
the ages, fortelling the advent of a Great Redeemer who 
would come as the Consolation of Israel and the Desire 
of all Nations. In fact, there is a golden chain of 
prophecy, the first link of which was clasped in the 
consecrated cradle of the New-born King, and the last 
of which was riveted in the empty sepulchre of the 
Risen Saviour. 

Centuries after the fall of man, the venerable old 
patriarch Jacob lay upon his death-bed away down in 
the land of Egypt. The dying father called around him 
his sons, the twelve patriarchs, and pronounced upon 
each of them a prophetical blessing. But when he came 
to the fourth-born, with Messianic light from the eternal 
w r orld bursting in upon his departing soul, he said, The 
sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a law given 
from between his feet, until Shiloh come ; and unto him 
shall the gathering of the people be. Moses, the great 
Leader of Israel, said by way of encouragement to the 
people, A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up 
unto you, of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye 
hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. 
Balaam, bribed by Balak, to curse Israel, in the valley 
of willows, being enlightened by the Spirit, in a Mes- 
sianic vision, exclaimed, I shall see him, but not now: 
I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a 
Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel. 
Isaiah, the prince of prophets, saw him as a Lamb slain 
from the foundation of the world. Ezekiel, the prophet 
of the Captivity, beheld him spring up as a Plant of 
great Renown. Daniel, in his glorious vision, recog- 
nized him in the person of the Holy Prince. Micah 



12 THE HOPE OF A LOST WORLD. 

saw him coming forth as the Ruler in Israel. Haggai 
hails him as the Desire of all Nations — a King who 
should fill the Holy Temple with his matchless glory. 
Zechariah saw him growing up as a Tender Branch, and 
seated as a Chief Priest upon his throne, bearing his 
glory in a rule amid the counsels of peace. While 
Malachi witnessed his rising, as the Sun of Righteous- 
ness, with healing in his beams for all who feared his 
glorious name. Now, Jacob's Anticipated Shiloh, Moses* 
Great Prophet, Balaam's Rising Star, Isaiah's Slain 
Lamb, Ezekiel's Plant of great Renown, Daniel's Holy 
Prince, Micah's Ruler in Israel, Haggai's Desire of all 
Nations, Zechariah's Fruitful Branch and Malachi's Sun 
of Righteousness, all pointed prophetically to the coming 
Nativity of the King of Glory. 

It was but natural that these precious prophecies, 
pointing to the advent of a Mighty Redeemer, should 
cheer up the drooping spirits of a fallen race, and guild 
the horizon of their future with the hope of a glorious 
day that would soon dawn in all its magnificent splendors 
upon a lost and ruined world. But, in the lapse of time, 
the shadows darkened. The religion of the Jews became 
burdened with traditional rites and ceremonies. The 
worship of the only true and living God had been inter- 
woven with homage paid to dumb idols. Base impostors, 
substituting memory for hope, had grouped around their 
own cradles the wonders of prophetic lore which clustered 
around the anticipated incarnation", and pointed out so 
minutely the high and tragical destiny of the King of 
Glory. 

But through all these dark vicissitudes the pious of 
earth did not lose sight of the divine assurances of a 



A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 13 

Coming Saviour. They lived in the faith of an Ex- 
pected Messiah ; and, in default of further revelations 
from heaven, their very lives became prophetic of his 
incarnation and power in the world. Even the guilty 
and wretched of the race were still looking through 
these dim and distant prophecies for the mysterious 
advent of a Mighty Deliverer. The most profound his- 
torians, both Jewish and Pagan, inform us that at the 
time of the King's birth, an intense conviction prevailed 
throughout the entire East that ere long a Powerful 
Monarch would arise in Judea, and, beginning at Jeru- 
salem, would extend his dominion over all the nations 
of the earth. Hence, the Eastern sages bent their 
steps aright when, in keeping with the voice of proph- 
ecy, they followed his natal star to the City of David in 
search of the new-born King of Glory. 

A brief biographical sketch of the King's parentage 
will not be without interest in this connection. It will 
also lead us most naturally to the events immediately 
connected with His humble though royal birth. For 
these interesting reminiscences we are indebted largely 
to uninspired writers, and consequently can not vouch 
for the truthfulness of all their detailed statements. 

Joseph, the adoptive father of Jesus, was the son of 
Jacob, and a just man, the noblest of God's creatures. 
He was an honorable Jewish patrician, whose fortune 
had likely been swallowed up in some political revolu- 
tion, or Judean war, leaving him only his manly arms 
and humble trade by which to support himself and a 
large family. Israel had no castes in her society. 
Hence manual labor was no disgrace to her purest and 
best sons. Some of her tribes, it is true, were more 



14 THE ADOPTIVE FATHER. 

illustrious, and some of her families more noble than 
others. But among the twelve tribes, Judah had al- 
ways held the preeminence. Among her many fami- 
lies, the house of David was ever the most highly hon- 
ored. And Joseph was both of the lineage of Judah, 
and also of Davidical descent. Yet this high-born old 
man was a contented widower, and an humble carpenter. 

Joseph was poor in this world's goods, but he pos- 
sessed treasures of grace, and a sanctity of soul which 
fitted him preeminently for the position he was called to 
occupy. He was not the most powerful, but the safest; 
not the wisest, but the most worthy of all the sons of 
Judah to become the protector of the Maiden Mother 
and the guardian of her Infant Son. So Mary did not 
lower her dignity so very much after all by espousing 
the village carpenter. In fact, their marriage proved to 
be a holy and most happy alliance, fraught with bless- 
ings alike congenial to both. Joseph proved to be a 
loyal husband, and in affection a most devoted father, 
whose chief and constant thought was the care of his 
Virgin wife, and the protection of her Royal Offspring. 

Mary, the mother of Jesus, also sprang from the lion 
tribe of Judah and the royal family of King David. She 
was born in the city of Nazareth, and educated in the 
Holy Temple at Jerusalem. The names of her parents 
were Joachim and Anna. Her father was of Nazareth, 
and her mother of Bethlehem. They married. Their 
lives were pious and faultless before men, and plain and 
right in the sight of the Lord. They grew rich, but 
were exceedingly charitable. They had lived together 
for about twenty years in the esteem of men and the 
favor of God, but without children, when they made a 



THE VIRGIN S PARENTS. 1 5 

solemn vow, promising the Lord if he would favor them 
with an offspring they would devote it to his most 
sacred service for life. 

Just after this had occurred, Joachim, and others of his 
tribe, went up to Jerusalem with their offerings to attend 
the Feast of Dedication : but when the high-priest saw 
him, in company with his neighbors, he despised both 
him and his offerings. He also asked him why he, being 
childless, had presumed to appear among those who had 
children, claiming that the offerings of one who had been 
judged unworthy of an offspring would not be accept- 
able to God. This unexpected, and unjust reproach 
confounded Joachim with shame and sorrow. So he 
would not return home, lest his neighbors should pub- 
licly reproach him in the same manner ; but retired to 
where his shepherds were keeping their flocks in the 
wilderness; and there he fasted forty days and nights in 
prayer and supplication to his God. 

Soon after this an angel stood by him with a great 
light, and seeing he was troubled at his appearance, 
said, Joachim, be not afraid, for I am an angel of the 
Lord, sent to inform you that your prayers are heard, 
and your alms accepted of God, who hath both seen 
your shame and heard you unjustly reproached for 
having no children. The angel then informed him that 
God was the avenger of sin, but not of nature ; and that 
when he caused barrenness it was that the offspring 
might not be the product of lust, but the gift of his 
grace. The heavenly messenger also referred very 
touchingly to the barrenness of the beautiful Sarah, af- 
terwards mother of Nations; then to the beloved Rachel, 
mother of Joseph, the deliverer of his people: and finally 



1 6 THE ANGEL TALKS WITH JOACHIM. 

to the honored mother of the valiant Samson, and the 
holy Samuel, who were numbered among the distin- 
guished judges of Israel. 

The angel then told Joachim that his wife Anna 
should bring forth a daughter, that they should call her 
name Mary, that she should be filled with the Holy 
Ghost, and according to their vow be devoted to the 
Lord from her infancy. He also said that the child 
should neither eat nor drink any thing unclean, nor have 
her conversation among the common people ; but be 
reared in the Holy Temple, that she might not fall under 
slander or suspicion of any thing that was bad. But his 
most marvelous revelation was, that, in the process of 
years, this same holy child, who was to be born in a mi- 
raculous manner of one who was barren, should herself, 
while yet a virgin, in an unparalleled way, bring forth 
the Son of the Most High God, who should be called 
Jesus, and according to the signification of his name be 
the Saviour of all Nations. The sacred messenger then 
gave Joachim the following sign as an evidence of the 
truthfulness of his words, and quickly departed : When 
you come to the golden gate of Jerusalem, you shall 
there meet your wife Anna, who, being very much trou- 
bled that you returned no sooner, shall rejoice greatly 
at your coming. 

The angel then appeared to Anna, who mourned both 
on account of her barrenness and supposed widowhood, 
and informed her also that a daughter should be given 
her whose name she should call Mary, and that she 
should be blessed above all women. He said she should 
be full of grace from her birth, continue three years 
with her parents and then, being devoted to the service 



THE VIRGINS BIRTH. 1 7 

of the Lord, she should not depart from the Temple 
until she arrived at the years of discretion ; and while 
yet a virgin and a maiden she should bring forth a Son, 
who by his grace, name and works, should be. the Sav- 
iour of the world. The heavenly comforter then gave 
Anna the same sign he had given her husband, and sud- 
denly disappeared. So they both left the places where 
they were, and, in keeping with the angel's prediction, 
met at the golden gate of Jerusalem, where they related 
each to the other their angelic visions ; and being fully 
satisfied, with the promise of an heir, they rejoiced and 
gave due thanks to the Lord, who exalts the humble and 
rewards the faithful. 

In due time Anna brought forth a daughter, accord- 
ing to promise, and they called her name Mary. The 
child increased in strength, and they made her chamber 
a holy place, suffering nothing uncommon or unclean to 
come near her. When she was a year old her father 
made a great feast at which he presented the Virgin to 
the chief priests, who took her and said, The God of 
our fathers bless this girl, and give her a name famous 
and lasting through all generations. The old legendary 
writers surrounded the childhood of the Virgin with a 
multitude of strange prodigies which are not sufficiently 
authenticated to warrant a notice in this connection. 

When Mary was three years old, accompanied by 
other undefiled daughters of the Hebrews, they brought 
her into the Holy Temple with suitable offerings by 
which their vow was perfected. They presented the 
interesting little Virgin to the high-priest, who received 
•and blessed her, saying, Mary, the Lord God hath mag- 
nified thy name through all generations, to the very end 



1 8 MARY IN THE HOLY TEMPLE. 

of time ; and placing her upon the third steps of the 
Altar she ascended the stairs with the grace of one of 
perfect age, and all the people loved her devotedly. 
Her parents were also filled with wonder, and left her 
praising God, because she did not desire to return home 
with them, but willingly remained with the other virgins 
in the apartments assigned them, where they were to be 
reared and educated in the Holy Temple. 

As the young Virgin advanced in years, she also in- 
creased in all of the graces and perfections of woman- 
hood. So, when she arrived at the age of fourteen, the 
wicked could lay nothing worthy of reproof to her charge, 
and the good all admired her purity of life and chaste 
conversation. 

At this juncture the high-priest made a public order 
to the effect that all the virgins of her age, being of 
proper maturity, who had public settlements in the 
Temple, should return home, and, according to the cus- 
tom of their country, endeavor to get married. The 
other virgins all readily yielded obedience to this com- 
mand. But the Virgin Mary said she could not comply 
with it, because her parents had devoted her to the 
Lord, to whom she had also vowed perpetual virginity. 
This brought the high-priest into a difficulty. He did 
not wish to dissolve a vow, neither did he desire to in- 
troduce a new custom to which the people were entire 
strangers. So he called the principal persons of Israel 
together and counseled them as to how he had best 
proceed in so difficult a matter. They unanimously 
agreed to seek directions from the Lord. This resulted 
in a call for all of the marriageable men of the house of 
David to come and bring their rods, that he by whom 



THE MYSTERIOUS BETROTHAL. 1 9 

the Lord would show a sign, might become the husband 
of the Virgin Mary. So, when they presented their rods 
to the high-priest, a dove proceeded out of the rod of a 
certain widower advanced in age, flew upon his head, 
emblematical of his purity, and every one saw plainly 
that the Virgin was to be given to Joseph. When the 
usual ceremonies of betrothing were over, Joseph re- 
turned to Bethlehem to set his house in order for the 
marriage. But the Virgin, with several other maidens 
appointed to attend her, returned to her home in Galilee. 
The long looked for period had arrived. The time 
for the incarnation of the King of Glory was at hand. 
The angel Gabriel received the mysterious message for 
earth, and gladly withdrew from the shining courts of 
heaven. The celestial messenger spread his vast silvery 
wings, and with lightning speed left behind him the golden 
streets, the palatial mansions, the emerald walls, and the 
pearly gates of the Heavenly Jerusalem. He soon 
reached the end of his delightful journey with his mes- 
sage of mercy, and a countenance all aglow with angelic 
joy. Descending softly through the hazy air like a falling 
star, he most gracefully lowered himself in the humble 
town of Nazareth. The heavenly harbinger sought at 
once the presence of the meek and modest maiden, and 
hailed her with his mysterious salutation, as the highly 
favored of the Lord. The virtuous Virgin was much 
troubled at his angelic presence, wondrous ways, and 
marvelous words. His unexpected eulogy, his strange 
story, and his celestial majesty, were well calculated to 
stir her sincere soul to its utmost depth. But the merci- 
ful messenger mildly said, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast 
found favor with God. The Holy Ghost shall come 



20 GABRIEL S WONDERFUL STORY. 

upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall over- 
shadow thee, and thou shalt bring forth a son, and call 
his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the 
Son of the Highest : and the Lord God shall give unto 
him the throne of his father David : and he shall reign 
over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom 
there shall be no end. This was glory enough for the 
highly honored Maiden. Virginal maternity was with- 
out a precedent under the sun: yet Mary, the purest and 
holiest of all Virgins, believed its announcement by the 
holy angel, and meekly replied, Behold the handmaid 
of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word. 

Then the angel departed, and, in a few days, Mary 
hastened to the hill country of Judea to visit Elizabeth. 
When she entered the home of Zacharias and saluted 
her cousin, Elizabeth recognized in the voice of her sal- 
utation the Mother of her Lord : and, being filled with 
the Holy Ghost, she pronounced a prophetical blessing 
upon the humble Virgin, which called forth from her lips 
that beautiful and ever memorable canticle of praise in 
which she magnified the Lord for her exaltation in be- 
ing chosen Mother to the world's Promised Redeemer. 
Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months, up 
to the birth of John the Baptist, and then returned to 
her home in Nazareth of Galilee. 

Soon after this, Joseph went from Bethlehem to Naz- 
areth for the purpose of marrying his betrothed Virgin. 
But, seeing her condition, he was much distressed in 
mind, and sorely grieved at heart. Not knowing what 
course to pursue, he finally purposed privately to put 
an end to their agreement, and as privately to put her 
away. But while he meditated upon these things, an 



JOSEPH AND MARY ARE MARRIED. 21 

angel appeared to him in a dream, banished every doubt 
of her guilt, and confirmed every hope of her innocence. 
Joseph knew now that Mary had been guilty of nothing 
inconsistent with her sacred vow of virginity, but that 
her miraculous conception was a supernatural work of 
the Holy Ghost. So he willingly married her, whom 
he also kept in purest chastity until after the birth of 
the King of Glory. 

About six months later, the Roman Emperor decreed 
that the world should be taxed. The customs of such 
occasions required every man in Israel to be at his na- 
tive city. So Joseph returned with his family from Naz- 
areth to Bethlehem. When they reached the little city, 
they found the public inn full to overflowing. They were 
the recognized descendants of David, Israel's greatest 
King; but their honored lineage could not secure lodg- 
ing for them in the great house which still bore the 
name of their royal ancestor. They were forced, at 
length, to seek shelter for the night in a dismal, door- 
less, stony cell — a cave used for a stable. 

The time had now fully come for the fulfillment of 
the Messianic oracles delivered by the prophets of Is- 
rael. The night of the Nativity came silently on in all 
its oriental loveliness. The ashen gray began to mingle 
with the snowy white around the borders of the distant 
horizon. The evening shades drew nearer, and a thin, 
hazy appearance gathered, like the smoke of incense 
from off some vestal altar, over the honored city of 
David. The soft twilight, like silvery mist, melted 
away in the deep blue sky, and the beautiful stars of 
night, as if kindled by one electric flash, burst forth in- 
to flame all over the broad domains of darkness. A 



22 THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. 

strange light enveloped the cave, and a signal glory 
veiled the canopy of the heavens. Here the holy Vir- 
gin gave birth to the world's Royal Redeemer, wrapped 
him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger. 
Here prophecy found its fulfillment: For unto us a 
Child was born. Here the New-born King, whose 
throne has been exalted above all the kings of the 
earth, found his first bed among the beasts, and his first 
cradle among the poor. But he, who was born in such 
an humble place on earth, lives in the most exalted 
state in heaven, where he will reign through everlasting 
ages as the King of Glory. 

However, the humble manner in which this Extraordi- 
nary Child made his advent into the world did not long 
conceal the glory of his coming. The holy angels soon 
made known to some honest shepherds, who were on 
the plains of Bethlehem, keeping night-watch over their 
tender flocks, the incarnation of the long Expected Mes- 
siah. The celestial song flooded the skies and rolled 
over the earth, in the richest strains and sweetest melo- 
dies of heaven, as the angel throng chanted in raptur- 
ous joy, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth 
peace and good will toward men. 

"In heaven the rapturous song began, 
And sweet, seraphic fire 
Through all the shining legions ran, 
And touched and tuned the lyre. 

"Swift through the vast expanse it flew, 
And loud the echo rolled: 
The theme, the joy, the song was new- 
'Twas more than heaven could hold. 



THE SHEPHERDS WORSHIP HIM. 23 

"Down through the portals of the sky 
The impetuous torrent ran, 
And angels flew, with eager haste, 
To bear the news to man : 

"' Peace on the earth, good will to men, 
From heaven's all glorious King.' 
The world in solemn stillness lay, 
And heard the angels sing." 

The heavenly music ceased. The angelic vision dis- 
appeared. The delighted shepherds took counsel to- 
gether and started for Bethlehem. They soon reached 
the cave, beheld the Babe, and offered, in deepest hu- 
mility, the mite and homage of the poor to their Infant 
King. 

It seems strange that these humble men of toil were 
informed, while kings and princes were left in ignorance 
of the advent of the King of kings and Lord of lords. 
Even the devout priests, honored Pharisees and learned 
Rabbis knew nothing of the Wonderful Babe in the 
Manger. Hence they had taken no account of the 
Virgin-born Prince whose throne was to be set up in 
the hearts of millions, and whose kingdom was to endure 
as the sun, for ever and ever. 

The high estate and lowly condition of Heaven's 
earth-born King were alike the marvel of men and the 
wonder of angels. So, when the enraptured shepherds 
had found and worshiped the King of Glory, they re- 
turned to their nocks, praising God and publishing 
through the mountains the marvelous story of that 
holy night, and the glory that should follow in the days 
to come. 

The nativity of our King should be commemorated, 



24 THE KING S BIRTH COMMEMORATED. 

with gifts of love and songs of joy, by young and old, in 
all lands and in all ages. It should be made an event, 
annually, of great joy to all people — joy to the poor, be- 
cause the King came to make them rich : joy to the 
rich, for he came to make them richer still : joy to^ the 
simple, because he came to make them wise unto salva- 
tion : joy to the wise, for he came to give them true 
wisdom : joy to the mourning and sorrowing ones of 
earth, because he came to comfort and bind up their 
broken hearts ; and joy to the guilty, condemned and 
despairing ones, for he came to take away transgression, 
bear the sins of many, and give himself a ransom for all 
men. Thank God, the flood of joy, which flowed from 
the Manger of Bethlehem, is wide enough to encompass 
the earth with its glory, rich enough to bless every hu- 
man soul with its mercy, and deep enough to roll on 
through all time and over boundless eternity. 





ffhe fnfant flpng. 



THE INFANCY OF THE KING. 



Chapter II. 



Go and search diligently for the young child. — Matt. 2 : 8. 



The most sacred testimonials, from earth and heaven, 
cluster around the innocent infancy of Jesus. They 
draw our fond hearts, like chords of love, to the cradle 
of his holy innocence, where wisdom and glory, in em- 
bryo, slept with the slumber and developed with the 
growth of our Infant King. Whether the Holy Babe 
was sleeping or playing, the sacred innocence of celestial 
infancy was ever enthroned upon his gentle brow. An 
atmosphere of mildness and meekness always filled the 
home, and surrounded the pathway of his feeble infancy. 

Never before had meekness and humility been com- 
bined with such royal majesty and matchless glory. 
The Infant King was the Son of the Highest, — the Heir 
of Heaven, but of poor, humble, earthly parentage, nei- 
ther distinguished for learning, riches, rank nor power. 
The Saviour could have astonished the world at his 
coming. He might just as easily have made his appear- 
ance, clothed in the splendors and glories of heaven, 
with a shining retinue of angels to herald, with golden 
trumpets, his royal advent into the world. But he came 
not in the state of a King, or with the glory of a con- 
queror ; with the parade of a monarch, or the trumpets 

(25) 



26 THE HOLY FAMILY AT BETHLEHEM. 

of victory. He chose to come, however, simply in the 
weakness of human poverty, and the helplessness of in- 
nocent infancy. But, in this Baby King the power of 
heaven was only veiled for a time with the weakness of 
earth, and the strength of omnipotence clothed in the 
feebleness of the flesh. For this Infant of a few hours 
was also the Ancient of Days. 

The Holy Family was still at Bethlehem. They had 
no doubt moved their head-quarters from the stable to a 
more congenial home. The Royal Babe was cradled 
no longer in a manger. He was now lulled to sleep in 
the loving arms of his maiden mother. Joseph and 
Mary doubtless looked with deepest reverence and pur- 
est affection upon the sweet face of the sleeping Infant 
by night, and fulfilled, with tenderest solicitude and the 
most fervid devotion, the ministrations of parental love 
by day. They pondered, alike in their hearts, the things 
which they had seen and heard, wondering what man- 
ner of man their Son should be ; and how his would 
affect their own and the world's future destiny. Thus 
a few days passed quietly by in the humble home of the 
Holy Family, filled with loving service and growing 
hope, with no eye to cast an envious glance, and no 
heart to entertain a hostile feeling toward the New-born 
Heir to Israel's throne. 

The important events which clustered around the 
infancy of the Baby King were well calculated to inspire 
the world with the hope that he would one day mount 
the royal throne of his father David, establish it in peace 
and righteousness, and reign as King of kings to the 
end of time. But the evangelists do not dwell upon the 
minor incidents connected with his infancy. Luke enters 



THE CIRCUMCISION. 27 

somewhat into details, with a singular sweetness in his 
sacred narratives, but does not dwell at length even 
upon the few which he mentions. In all probability he 
gathered these fragmentary, but fragrant, sketches from 
the consecrated lips of the Virgin mother herself. The 
depth to which she buried, and the sacredness with 
which she treasured, all these events in her loving heart 
made her the fit receptacle of such delicate truths, and 
the most natural historian of his infant years. 

The four inspired Gospels of his Maturity mention 
but four events connected with his infancy. These we 
will now present in their regular chronological order. 
Then we will notice briefly some of the more interesting 
incidents narrated in the uninspired Gospels of his In- 
fancy. 

The first of these sacred events was his Circumcision. 
This occurred in Bethlehem, according to the directions 
given in the Mosaic law, when the Infant King was but 
eight days old. The Supreme Lawgiver had volunta- 
rily placed himself under the law given to regulate human 
life. Therefore he rendered perfect obedience, to all 
its requirements of him, as its legitimate subject. While 
a minor he rendered passive obedience through the 
agency of his parental guardians, and afterwards, actual 
obedience in his own personal submission to, and ful- 
fillment of, all its divine precepts and sacred obliga- 
tions. He came not to destroy a single commandment; 
but to fulfill every iota of God's law then obligatory 
upon men. Hence he willingly submitted to the bloody 
rite of circumcision, and thus, in this highly typical ordi- 
nance, prefigured, the flowing of his own sacrificial 
blood upon the cross, even when but a Tender Infant 



28 THE PRESENTATION OF THE INFANT. 

only eight days of age. Thus early his blood began to 
flow, to cease only in death. 

But when they circumcised the Holy Infant, they also 
gave him a name. As the angel had predicted, they 
called him Jesus. This name was so rich in meaning, 
and so full of promise, that its significance should have 
been recognized at once by all Israel. Jesus, Jehovah's 
salvation, was a personal name to be borne by One who 
had emptied himself of all his glory that He might 
dwell, for a time, sinless among sinful men. Christ, the 
Anointed of the Lord, was his official name, afterwards 
borne to indicate that he was a Prophet, Priest and 
King in Israel. There is something in a name when 
worthily borne. The name, Jesus Christ, is potent. It 
bears a hidden mystery of such marvelous sweetness 
and wonderful power as often moves the stubborn will, 
melts the hardened heart, and subdues the rebellious 
soul. To consecrated lips this magic name is sweeter 
than honey or the honey-comb ; to cultivated ears, it is 
heavenly music, and to all loving, devoted hearts, it is 
joy unspeakable and full of glory. 

"Precious name, oh, how sweet! 
Hope of earth and joy of heaven ! " 

The second of these memorable events was his Pres- 
entation. This took place at Jerusalem when the Holy 
Infant was forty days old, or thirty-two days after his 
circumcision at Bethlehem. At this appointed time 
Joseph and Mary carried their Royal Son into the Holy 
Temple to present him to the Lord. They brought the 
Lord of the Temple helpless into the Temple of the 
Lord. The offerings required of the poor on such oc- 



A DOUBLE IN'CIDENT. 29 

casions were two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons. 
With this humble oblation, fit emblem of their inno- 
cence and purity, the maternal Virgin presented herself 
and Babe to the officiating priest for, and received, his 
blessing of ceremonial purification. Jesus, being the 
first-born Son of Mary, was of necessity redeemed by 
Joseph from Temple service with five sanctuary shekels. 
A double incident, his recognition by the aged Sim- 
eon and the prophetess Anna, has rendered forever 
memorable this first visit of the Infant King to the Holy 
Temple. Simeon's recognition of the Little Messiah 
especially is touchingly beautiful. As the flight of 
years had swept on, so ardent had grown the old man's 
faith and hope that this one thing he desired above all 
others, that ere his eyes were closed in death they 
might behold his Incarnate Saviour. So when the Holy 
Family entered the sacred inclosure, with silver for the 
ransom, and doves for the sacrifice, this good old man 
also came into the Temple. He was a just and devout 
man. He was extremely pious and venerable. He 
lived in Jerusalem, and perchance was the successor of 
Zacharias, possibly the high-priest and president of the 
great Jewish Sanhedrim. At least he was an honorable 
counselor, to whom it had been revealed by the Spirit 
of Truth that he should not depart this mortal life until 
he had seen the King oi Glory in the flesh. A legend, 
contained in the Arabic Gospel of the King's Infancy, 
makes the old man recognize the Sacred Babe as his 
Saviour, in view of the fact that he saw him shining like 
a pillar of light in the arms of the Virgin mother, while 
angels stood around him in silent adoration, like the 
guards of a king. Simeon, at any rate, was permitted 



30 THE STAR IN THE EAST. 

to embrace the Heavenly Infant in his aged arms with 
a consciousness of his Messiahship, and in his transport 
of joy he exclaimed: Lord, now lettest thou thy serv- 
ant depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine 
eyes have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared 
before the face of all people ; a light to lighten the Gen- 
tiles, and the glory of my people Israel. 

The third of these important events was the visit of 
the wise men to Bethlehem. The Star of the King's 
nativity had made its appearance in the East. It was 
seen and recognized by the Magi as the natal star of 
the world's Redeemer. The transparent atmosphere 
of that clime revealed the splendors of the heavens by 
night with a glory unknown to other lands. The grand 
phenomena of the beautiful stars, presented in that ori- 
ental country, soon led to a belief in, and the study of 
astrology. This superstition resulted erelong in the 
worship of the heavenly bodies. These astrologers re- 
garded the sun as the king of day, and the moon and 
stars as rulers of the night. The planets, or wandering 
stars, were their greatest mysteries. They called them 
interpreters, and believed they did portend something 
either fortunate or unfortunate, in all their strange 
movements and varied aspects. They also held that 
the position of these interpreters, at a child's birth, de- 
termined unalterably its future fate or fortune. Hence 
to cast " nativities " became one of the most important 
functions of these Eastern astrologers. The Jewish 
Rabbis at one time also dabbled in astrology. The cal- 
culation of the stars became their chief glory. Though 
they claimed that no planet ruled Israel, but that her 
sons themselves were all stars. This science was at 



THE WISE MEN ARE SCHOLARS. 3 1 

first confined to a priestly caste known as the Magi, or 
wise men, of the East. But in after years the name 
lost its wonted prestige, being applied to magicians who 
practiced a much lower grade of magical arts. With 
this class of magicians the life and portion of a child did 
not depend in the least upon its conduct, but hung ex- 
clusively upon its natal star. 

But the Magi, of whom we speak, were no pretended 
astrologers, or oriental soothsayers. They were wise 
men, priestly in office and princely in power. They 
were Persian scholars. The term Magi, as worn by 
them, was one of dignity and power. It indicated that 
they stood at the head of the literati of their age. 
They came, as representatives of the Gentiles, to offer 
their allegiance to the new-born King of Glory. 

But the star which guided these wise men of the East, 
in search of Israel's Infant King, was not one of the 
fixed orbs which guide the pilgrim on the land and the 
mariner on the deep. Nor could it have been one of the 
wandering planets which move to and fro upon the 
starry plains of night, rising and setting, sometimes 
sooner, and sometimes later than the king of day. 
Neither was it one of those transient meteors which burn 
but for a moment, to go out in midnight darkness upon 
the fields of night. It was a supernatural star which 
led these Eastern sa^es from heathen darkness to the 
Light of the world. It was a star brought into existence 
by divine power for the express purpose of guiding 
these princely embassadors to the place where they 
could present their royal gifts, in the name of the Gen- 
tile world, to the Infant King of Glory. 

Like the pillar of fire which guided the hosts of Israel 



32 THE HEAVENLY BEACON. 

through the barren deserts of the wilderness, so this 
luminous star of the King's nativity led these wise men 
of the East to the cradle of the world's Infant Saviour. 
When they journeyed, it moved in advance of the sa- 
cred caravan. But when they pitched their tents for the 
night, it gently balanced itself over their camp like a 
sleeping albatross upon poised pinions in the heavens. 

" Beauteous star! once brightly beaming, 
In the far off orient clime; 
Still thy brilliant rays are streaming 
Down the minster-aisles of time. 

" Not alone, thou heavenly beacon, 
For the Magi dost thou shine; 
Not alone they heed thy token, 
Hastening to Messiah's shrine. 

" We, who dwell in later ages, 

Hail the glorious Saviour's birth ; 
We, with oriental sages, 

Bearing gifts, would hasten forth. 

"Oh! we love to hear the story, 
How the Lord of life and light 
Left his blissful home in glory, 
To illumine earth's dark night. 

L i Shine thou on, O starry stranger : 
Tell the aged and the young 
Of the Infant in the Manger, 
And the song the angels sung. 

"Shine thou on, O heavenly beacon, 
To remotest regions shine, 
Till all nations thou shalt beckon 
To Messiah's holy shrine." 



THE STAR LED SAGES ENTER JERUSALEM. 33 

But when the Magi caught sight of the lofty towers 
and glittering domes of Jerusalem, their beautiful guide 
suddenly disappeared in the depth of the deep blue 
sky. The God of heaven does not uselessly prolong 
his miracles when human agency is a sufficient guide : 
so thought the devout Magi ; and hence they entered 
the Holy City at once, and inquired of those who ought 
to have known, where they would find the new-born 
King of the Jews. 

These star-led sages reached Jerusalem a few days 
after the presentation of the Holy Infant. The strange 
report soon went the rounds in the Holy City. It 
passed from lip to lip, and from home to home. Certain 
members of the priestly caste from Persia are in the 
city, desiring information concerning a New-born King 
to the Jews, whose natal star, they say, has guided 
them from their distant homes in the East to the Prom- 
ised Land. Such an embassy upon such an extraor- 
dinary mission was well calculated to throw the entire 
city into a perfect commotion. The people were wild 
with enthusiasm, and thrilled with hope. The expecta- 
tion, even of the Rabbinical schools, was raised to its 
highest pitch of excitement. Strange catastrophes and 
unusual phenomena in nature had often been coincident 
with the greatest events in human history. Why, then, 
should they doubt the prophecy of Balaam and their 
own traditions, which prepared them to believe that a 
great star would make its appearance at the advent of 
the King-Messiah? They expected their King to come 
as a Beacon Star, shining amid the sorrows and sins of 
earth, and casting a halo of divine glory over the gloom 

and darkness of death. 
3 



34 HEROD THE GREAT. 

But while the Baby King, cradled in the Manger at 
Bethlehem, slept sweetly in its holy innocence, — upon 
his couch of gold, in the most gorgeous chamber of his 
royal palace, at Jerusalem, lay a sleepless king, old in 
years, but older still in crime and misery. He lived in 
his own palace, in constant dread of the assassin's knife, 
hating and behated by all around him. He had fought 
his way to the throne with bloody hands and a crimson 
heart. He had retained his sceptre at the sacrifice of 
many human victims. The memories of a murdered 
wife and slaughtered children reproached him still by 
day, and haunted him ever by night. Sleep, for weeks, 
forsook his eyes, and slumber departed from his eye- 
lids. A strange rumor terrified and vexed his jealous 
soul. It was currently reported that the Legitimate 
Heir to David's throne had been born in Bethlehem of 
Judea. He had also been told that angels had cele- 
brated his birth with songs of joy and tidings of glad- 
ness. This king was Herod the Great, who had lost 
every thing worth living for. His peace of mind was 
gone, his honor lost, and his soul forfeited. Bleeding 
victims stood around him, in his dreams by night, and 
the Descendant of Israel's ancient kings was the burden 
of his heart by day. The fatal predictions kept afloat 
by the Pharisees, and the divine oracles of the ancient 
seers were revolved over and over in his mind, until, in 
his imagination, he saw the Warrior King upon his 
royal throne, overrunning the world with his victorious 
conquests. These things, bitter as wormwood, sank 
deep into the dark and desolate soul of the aged mon- 
arch. 

On the day that the Magi entered Jerusalem, unfavor- 



THE MAGI BEFORE HEROD. 35 

able reports were brought up hourly from the troubled 
city to the suspicious and bloodthirsty old king. Night 
came on, and he turned the strange reports over and 
over in his mind, trying to divine what they did portend, 
as he lay tossing upon his royal couch. He was mad- 
dened with fear, and saddened with remorse. At length 
he dozed; but started in his sleep, for he caught the 
gleam of a dagger behind the drapery of his golden couch. 
He shuddered, for he heard his oppressed subjects rising 
in revolt along the streets of the city. He arose, for 
he felt his throne shaking beneath him with the throes 
of a mighty revolution. He awoke, but found it all a 
dream. Herod was old, diseased and dying. Few and 
evil were to be the remaining days of his wretched life. 
But he was finally resolved that the Infant King of 
Bethlehem should not embitter his exit out of this, into 
a still darker world. Willing to extinguish at one stroke 
all the glories beheld by the prophetic seers of Israel, 
he decreed that Bethlehem's new-born King should 
die. 

In order to accomplish the wicked purpose of his heart, 
Herod summoned the authorities of Israel before him at 
his palace, and demanded of them the prophetic birth- 
place of their Expected Messiah. They readily re- 
sponded, Bethlehem of Judea. He now dismissed the 
Jewish authorities, and privately called the wise men of 
the East to his palace. He questioned them closely as 
to the time when the star had made its appearance, and 
then, under pretense of a similar desire with themselves 
to worship the Infant Redeemer, he gave them the 
desired information, and started them to Bethlehem, 
saying, Go, search diligently for the young child, and 



$6 THE MAGI GO TO BETHLEHEM. 

when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I 
may come and worship him also. 

The Magi gave the most implicit credence to these 
false and deceptive words of the Idumean king, and 
departed with gladness for the city of David. And 
lo, when they were but a short distance from Jerusalem, 
their sacred guide reappeared, and went before them 
until it came and stood over where the Divine Infant 
lay. They had grown familiar with this lovely star, and 
hence hailed its return, in this time of need, with exceed- 
ing great joy, even as the coming oi^ a faithful friend 
whom they had mourned as lost. But when these joy- 
ful sages reached the city of Bethlehem, and marched to 
the spot pointed out by the beautiful star which hung 
in loveliness over the residence of the Holy Family, they 
entered the house, beheld the Celestial Infant, and 
offered him their royal gifts in acts of the most devout 
adoration. They felt that they were well paid for the 
toils and privations of their long and tedious journey 
when they saw the Infant Redeemer of the world pil- 
lowed upon the maiden bosom of the Virgin mother, 
and were permitted to fall down and worship him as the 
earth-born King of Glory. 

The divine purpose in directing these wise men to the 
place of the King's nativity was not simply to gratify 
their curiosity ; nor was it solely for the purpose of 
honoring them with the exalted privilege of presenting 
their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to their 
Spiritual King. This important event answered many 
purposes in the divine economy. It aided in defeating 
the wicked design of a wicked king. It provided means 
for the support of the Holy Family in their flight to 



HEROD DUPED BY THE WISE MEN. 2)7 

Egypt. It drew from the great Jewish Sanhedrim, in 
confirmation of prophecy, the declaration that Beth- 
lehem of Judea was to be the birthplace of the Promised 
Messiah. It prepared the Gentiles more fully for the 
reception of the Gospel in after-years. It also taught 
the world, among many other valuable lessons, that no 
gifts are too costly to be presented to the Poor Naza- 
rene ; and that no men are so wise and great, but they 
owe the homage and adoration of their hearts to the 
humble King of Bethlehem. 

When Herod found that he was duped by the Magi, 
who, being warned of God, had failed to report to him 
their success, he was exceedingly angry. The bold 
usurper trembled with fear upon his bloody throne. He 
rested not until he had resolved to slay every male 
infant in and around Bethlehem under two years of age, 
lest that one Holy Babe, whom the Eastern sages had 
saluted as their Infant King, should escape his malignant* 
vengeance. He who had meanly put to death his own 
children, for fear they would shorten his wicked reign, 
would now, in a general massacre, willingly and mali- 
ciously murder innocent infancy by the wholesale, that he 
might if possible defeat the purposes of heaven in the 
death of Zion's Infant King. But not so ; the eye which 
never sleeps nor slumbers, watched over the Babe of 
Bethlehem for good. Joseph slept: but a celestial light 
fell upon the face of the sleeper. A heavenly messenger 
warned the old man in a dream of approaching danger, 
and bade him take the Virgin and her Royal Son, and 
flee in the silence and darkness of the night into the 
land of Egypt. 

Herod was doomed to hopeless disappointment. The 



38 SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS. 

steps of his throne were already wet with the blood of 
his best friends, whom he had murdered to make it 
secure. But rank jealousy still rankled in his poisoned 
breast. Age had brought a deeper, deadlier hatred to 
his malignant soul, and fitted it for more terrible deeds 
of darkness. He sat amid the splendors of his royal 
palace in a solitude deeper than death. His anger, like 
dark clouds on the wings of the wind, spread all over 
the land until it settled down in its madness upon the 
peaceful town of Bethlehem, where it gave full vent to 
its fiery indignation in the shameful slaughter of its help- 
less innocents. A band of soldiers went forth and exe- 
cuted his heartless decree upon her doomed infants. 
And a wail of woe went up from the bosom of many a 
broken-hearted mother, whose sun of joy had been 
totally eclipsed by this dark cloud of death, which swept 
like a besom of destruction over their royal city. These 
•innocent little martyrs paid dearly for the honor of 
having been born with Jesus. But they secured the 
greater honor of reigning with him in glory. 

Herod's treacherous conduct, in this matter, teaches 
us that those who choose this life as their portion forfeit 
all peace on earth, and all hope of heaven. Sorrow and 
sin darken the pathway of their pilgrimage through life, 
and the night of death soon settles down upon their 
guilty souls, with no promise of returning day. God's 
withering curse seared the brain, and his almighty wrath 
prepared a doom for Herod, which shuddering nature 
can not contemplate without the most fearful forebod- 
ings. He died with a nameless malady — eaten alive by 
the worms. His doomed soul crossed the Stygian river, 
crimson with crime, to find no entrance to the Elysium. 



THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. 39 

Such is the fate of the King's enemies ; and such is the 
doom of the damned. 

The fourth of these noted events was the flight into 
Egypt. Joseph heeded the admonition of the angel, and 
the Holy Family started as refugees to the land of bond- 
age. A sad journey awaited both mother and Infant. 
They must pass over desert wastes, and under a scorch- 
ing sun, for hundreds of miles. They must also travel, 
with but few of the comforts of life, in constant dread of 
being overtaken and murdered by Herod's men of war, 
or insulted and robbed by strangers in a heathen land. 
This was a cold reception for the Infant King, who came 
as a Light to all nations, but was compelled to flee for 
life, from his own country, into a land the very symbol 
of darkness and death. 

Revelation, yes, even tradition, is silent so far as the 
details of this long and perilous pilgrimage is concerned. 
But an unseen guardian must have guided the soft and 
silent march of the sacred exiles. The Divine Hand 
must have led them by day, and provided a secure asy- 
lum for them by night. For they journeyed through a 
desert overhung by a fiery sky, and swept by simoons 
more treacherous than the wondrous waves of the dreaded 
ocean. The illusive mirage of the desert often threw 
across their trackless pathway lakes of blue and sparkling 
waters which the thirsty travelers could never reach, and 
filled the heavens with strange phenomena which doubt- 
less made the Virgin mother shudder and draw her Dar- 
ling Babe closer to her heaving bosom when no danger 
was nigh them. So they passed on for weeks, with the 
sun pouring his burning beams upon their defenseless 
heads by day, and the moon shedding her soft, silvery 



40 THE HOLY FAMILY IN EGYPT. 

light over the shadeless and barren wastes by night, 
until, a thousand trials and dangers passed, the holy 
fugitives were at last safe in the land of their refuge. 

The Holy Family was in Egypt, the nursery of an- 
cient knowledge ; but also the devotee of the most 
shameful idolatry. They gazed with admiration upon 
her granite obelisks, lofty temples and colossal pyra- 
mids. It was a country richer and more populous than 
the Holy Land : but to them it was wanting in charms ; 
for it was the land of their lonely exile. The great 
desert was stretched out between them and the native 
home from which they had virtually been banished. 

Inspiration is silent as to the sojourn of the Holy Fam- 
ily in Egypt. Legendary writers, however, give us 
some incidents of interest in this connection. One of 
these quaint old legends tells us that they soon went to 
Heliopolis, a city of considerable importance, where a 
large colony of Jews lived. As they approached the 
gates of the city a majestic date tree, worshiped by the 
Arabs of the place, slowly bent its shady branches as if 
saluting the young Master of Nature, who was cradled 
in the arms of his Virgin mother. And, as they passed 
quietly under the granite archway, the great idol of the 
city, with all the idols of the neighboring temples, fell 
prostrate to the ground, creating a wonderful consterna- 
tion among the people. These romantic legends also 
represent the Virgin as performing many miraculous 
cures with the water in which she washed the swaddling 
clothes of her Heavenly Infant. By this means, they 
say, she gained great favor with, and received a hand- 
some support from the people whithersoever they chanced 
to journey. They also represent the Holy Family as 



AMONG THE ROBBERS. 4 1 

visiting Memphis, seeing Pharaoh and abiding three 
years in Egypt, where the Baby Jesus, it is said, also 
did very many miracles, neither recorded in the Gos- 
pels of his Infancy, nor yet in the Gospels of his Per- 
fection. 

After a stay, variously estimated at from one to three 
years, in the land of refuge, God sent an angel and 
called his Son out of Egypt. When Joseph was in- 
formed of Herod's death, the Holy Family set out at 
once for Palestine. Another rather remarkable legend 
tells us that on their return they had to pass through a 
certain desert region infested with a band of robbers. 
Hoping to avoid coming in contact with them, they 
passed through these parts in the night. But, behold, 
in their journey, they found two robbers in the road, 
accompanied by a great number of confederates, who 
were asleep. The names of the two on watch were 
Titus and Dumascus. Titus besought his companion to 
let the Holy Family pass quietly along without being 
perceived by their comrades in crime. But Dumascus 
refused ; whereupon Titus offered him forty groats, 
giving his girdle as a pledge, and thereby secured his 
silence. When Mary saw the kindness shown them by 
this robber she said : The Lord God will receive thee 
to his right hand and grant thee pardon of thy sins. 
Then Jesus said to his mother, When thirty years are 
expired the Jews will crucify me at Jerusalem, and these 
two thieves shall be with me upon the cross : Titus 
upon my right hand and Dumascus upon my left, and 
from that place Titus shall accompany me to Paradise. 

They completed their long and perilous journey, and 
at last reached the coasts of Judea. It must have been 



42 THEY RETURN TO PALESTINE. 

sweet after their long and lonely exile among heathens 
to breathe once more the pure air, and gaze again upon 
the lofty mountains of their own dear, native, Christian 
land. 

But, when they entered Palestine, they evidently 
intended making Bethlehem their future home. This 
was perfectly natural. Bethlehem of Judea was the 
honored city of their distinguished ancestry ; and the 
birthplace of their own Royal Son. Many heroic and 
hallowed associations clustered around the sacred city 
of David and David's Greater Son. But circumstances 
were such as forbade them running the risk of keeping 
the Legitimate Heir to Israel's throne so near Jerusa- 
lem. They were told that the treacherous Archelaus 
had succeeded his father Herod ; and they feared, if he 
learned of their return, he too would regard their Son 
Jesus as his Rival for the throne, and put him to death. 
So they went into Galilee and took up their abode, in 
the place of their former residence, at Nazareth, that he 
might be called a Nazarene. And so ended the inter- 
esting history of the infantile days of the Infani King 
of Glory. 




THE CHILDHOOD OF THE KING. 



Chapter III, 



The child grew and waxed strong in spirit. — Luke 2 : 40. 



Childhood has always been surrounded, necessarily, 
by a halo of romance peculiar to itself. Biographical 
literature, both ancient and modern, abound with anec- 
dotes of infancy, incidents of childhood and intimations 
of boyhood life, as well as with the grand achievements 
of manhood's riper years. 

It is perfectly natural, even praiseworthy, for us to 
desire to know all we can possibly learn about the early 
life of Jesus. But, strange to say, the evangelists do 
not mention a single incident occurring in what we 
might properly call his childhood years. The well- 
known surroundings of this period, with some beautiful 
legendary stories, however, enable us to sound, though 
with some reserve, yet with much certainty, the sacred 
depths of this simple but sublime epoch in the life of 
the Child-King. 

The mournful days of their exile were passed, and 
the Holy Family breathed once more the pure mountain 
air of their own loved land. Once more they w r ere 
housed in their humble home, at Nazareth. Of the 
inner home-life of the Blessed Family, we know but 

little. It is like the hidden streamlet, or the Holy of 

(43) 



44 ORIENTAL HOME-LIFE. 

holies, veiled from our vision. Occasionally, however, 
we may catch a view of the lovely scene, in the study 
of the after-life of its Central Figure. As coming 
events cast their shadows before them, so the revealed 
truths of his public ministry throw some bright rays of 
light back, upon the otherwise hidden scenes of the 
early home-life of the Wonderful Nazarene. And the 
country, its peculiar people and their fixed customs, 
enable us to look into that oriental home with a good 
degree of certainty as to many of its sacred usages and 
simple services. 

Oriental life differed materially from the modernized 
mode of living. Our ideas of progression place society 
in a whirl of incessant changes ; while their conservatism 
retains the habits and customs of the past with a super- 
stitious tenacity peculiar to themselves. Orientals cling 
by nature to the old as sacred and best, rejecting the 
new as novel and worthless. They resist, to the death, 
the least innovations upon the customs of their fathers. 
Hence the mission of Jesus was doubly difficult. To 
change the formalities of the old dispensation into the 
spirituality of the new, was bound to meet with the 
gravest opposition, and prove to be no easy or ordi- 
nary task to perform. To supplant the Jewish relig- 
ion, with its sacred forms, feasts and ceremonies, by the 
Christian religion, with its simple but significant ordi- 
nances, was to be a herculean work. But in after years, 
as we shall see, our Child-King was fully equal to the 
mighty task. 

The home-life of the Holy Family, in keeping with 
the age in which they lived, was no doubt both humble 
and quiet, simple and serene. Its reality must have 



GORGEOUS PICTURES BY PAINTERS. 45 

differed materially from the fancy and gorgeous pictures 
of its most elaborate painters. They have unwisely 
seated the Virgin mother and her Holy Child, in the 
midst of ease and luxury, upon stately thrones, under 
canopies of blue and purple, and mantled them with 
robes of richest colors, embroidered with gold and 
clasped with priceless gems. It is true, if the Child- 
King had dwelt in the most gorgeous palace ever built 
by human hands, this would have been a wonderful 
concealment of his heavenly glory. Or, if he had 
received nothing but the royal gifts and most devout 
homage of all nations, with every language and tongue 
burdened with his praise, still it would have been 
infinite condescension upon his part. But how much 
more significant and humiliating was his wonderful 
condescension when he passed by the stately palace of 
kings, and the marble mansions of the rich, to dwell, 
unhonored and unknown by the world, in that humble 
and obscure home at Nazareth! though after all it was 
the holiest and happiest home on earth. This Virgin- 
born Child, who came to brighten all human homes, and 
beautify all the paths of human life, with his own tran- 
scendent life and triumphant death, knew full well that 
the hovels of the poor were not necessarily the abodes 
of wretchedness, or the mansions of millionaires the 
habitations of happiness. He knew that princely homes 
were often burdened with the sighs and groans of wounded 
hearts ; while the huts of poverty and penury were as 
frequently filled with the songs of joy and shouts of 
gladness. 

This Child-King's childhood days must have been 
very happy days. Innocence is a cause, with happiness 



46 THE MODEL HOME. 

as one of its most legitimate effects. How fragrant, 
then, must have been the happiest years of the Saviour's 
life, even those sinless days of his innocent childhood ! 
The presence of this Wonderful Child must have made 
the humble home of the Village Carpenter the happiest 
of all homes. The gentle and sanctifying influence of 
one loving, consecrated heart is sufficient to breathe the 
blessings of peace upon any unholy family circle. No 
shameful discord can long resist its harmonizing power. 
No vulgar tyranny can long withstand its beneficent 
sorcery. No profane language can long linger around 
the sacred precincts of its holy altar. But Joseph's was 
no ordinary home. With a just and devout father to 
guide, a loving and' devoted mother to hallow, and the 
most interesting and innocent of all sons to illuminate 
it with the very light of heaven, it could but have been 
a model home, where peace, purity and piety offered 
rare inducements to angel visitants to stay their wav- 
ing wings awhile on earth. 

A beautiful picture of the unity, love and harmony 
of this model home is seen in a reference to it contained 
in the Apocryphal History of Joseph the Carpenter, in 
which Jesus himself is the Speaker. After stating that 
Joseph had four elder sons and several daughters by 
a former wife, of whom Justus, Simon, Esther and 
Thomas had married and gone to their homes, Jesus 
adds: But Judas and James the Less and the Virgin, my 
mother, remained in the house of Joseph. I also con- 
tinued along with them, not otherwise than if I had 
been one of his own sons. I passed all my time with- 
out fault. I called Mary my mother, and Joseph father, 
and in all they said I was obedient to them. Nor did I 



PARENTAL AFFECTION AND ADORATION. 47 

ever resist, provoke their anger, or return any harsh 
word or answer to them. On the contrary, I cherished 
them with immense love, as the apple of mine eye. 
Blessed home! Wonderful Child! Would that all 
homes could be modeled after this pattern, and all chil- 
dren be induced to imitate this royal example of filial 
obedience and love. 

Joseph and Mary also loved the Royal Child de- 
votedly. This passionate love of these devoted parents 
for their Remarkable Offspring was characteristic of the 
nation to which they belonged. The Child Jesus was, 
no doubt, the center of attraction around which the life 
and love of that consecrated household constantly clus- 
tered. They not only loved, but also adored the Holy 
Child. For while he was their Beloved Child, they also 
recognized him as the Offspring of Heaven. Hence, 
while there was parental affection both pure and deep 
in their hearts, there was also holy adoration, both sa- 
cred and devout, in their souls for the Celestial Child. 
It was perfectly natural that Mary should love him most 
of all, and more than all. He was her only Child, and 
therefore the sum of her maternal solicitude and happi- 
ness, and the chief source of her earthly joys, as well 
as the only hope of her heavenly bliss. Mary united 
with a mother's love a maiden's purity, and conse- 
quently loved her Son, perchance, as no other mother 
ever loved her child. No wonder ! Mary was a sacred 
Virgin, called of God to nourish with her own milk, and 
cradle in her maiden arms the precious Little King of 
heaven. 

Jesus, in the truest sense of the word, was a child. 
He must, therefore, have looked and acted in many re- 



48 MATERNAL LESSONS OF LOVE. 

spects much like other children would under similar cir- 
cumstances. He, no doubt, played around the work- 
bench, gathering chips and blocks for toys, when Joseph 
was working at his trade. He ran playfully along be- 
fore his mother as she carried her earthen pitcher to 
and from the fountain for water. He busied his little 
hands, with childish joy, assisting his parents in their 
daily tasks. And he rejoiced, with childish fervor, when 
his red caftan, bright tunic and many-colored sash as- 
sured him of another pleasant visit with his parents to 
the village synagogue. 

The tutelage of her Holy Child was one of the Vir- 
gin's chief delights. His first lessons were given by 
her in the sanctuary of their own sacred home. The 
richest treasures of the mother's mind and heart were 
poured daily into the growing intellect and opening af- 
fections of her Beloved Son. And his rapidly develop- 
ing powers gave back in his childhood life all that was 
grand and good in these maternal lessons of love. Just 
as the fragrant flower sends forth the sweet odors which 
fall upon it in the hours of sunshine and cultivated care, 
so the Appreciative Son returned with deepest gratitude 
all of the tender solicitude of his devoted mother. The 
maternal toils, privations, and sacrifices of the true 
mother always entitle her to the respect, confidence, 
and love of the children for whom she lives and labors. 
And they are unworthy sons and daughters who, un- 
mindful of these sacred obligations, fail to honor and re- 
vere her who gave them birth and watched, in tears 
and tenderness, over their childhood life. 

Under the wise counsel of Joseph, the Young King also 
learned many of the richest and most profound lessons 



A GROWTH OF SINLESS BEAUTY. 49 

of his childhood days. God made no mistake in select- 
ing a counselor for his Incarnate Son. Joseph was 
not a profound scholar, but he had a rich and ripe ex- 
perience in the divine life, which qualified him preem- 
inently for the soul-culture and heart-development of 
the Young Nazarene. The Little Fellow was deprived 
of the advantages of a regular literary education, 
but his supernatural abilities compensated amply for 
any deficiency in his secular training. And there were, 
no doubt, many sweet spirits, among the favored asso- 
ciates of his parents, who shed the light of their holier 
natures and higher lives upon the family gatherings at 
Nazareth, none of which would be lost upon this most 
Remarkable Child. 

Little Jesus was not endowed with infinite wisdom, 
nor clothed with absolute power during his sweet and 
holy childhood life. He experienced in his growth and 
development all the limitations to which the flesh is heir, 
with all the inconveniences of human nature in its sin- 
less state. The Child grew and waxed strong in spirit. 
Me grew as other children do, save his was a more rapid 
growth — a growth of sinless beauty — a perfect and har- 
monious development of his physical, mental, and moral 
natures. The faculties of his mind developed so rap- 
idly that, ere his youthful days had flown, he had at- 
tained to the perfection of human knowledge, and was 
reaching out after the consummation of heavenly wis- 
dom. Though there were some things which Jesus, in 
his human capacity, never knew, for the simple fact that 
it was not necessary, or best that he should know them, 
and hence the Father did not reveal them to him while in 
the flesh. But, for a Child, he was certainly a most eager 
4 



50 MORAL DEVELOPMENT. 

and gifted Learner. His childish enthusiasm and unpar- 
alleled progress must have kindled in the hearts of his 
honored instructors the greatest admiration for the wise 
Little King. His noble and manly bearing could but 
have won the esteem and love of all whose exalted priv- 
ilege it was to be intimately associated with him, even 
in his childhood life. 

The King's character, or moral nature, began also 
to develop itself when he was quite young. The Child 
waxed strong in spirit. In other words, he increased 
wonderfully in his conception of moral truth, and grew 
strong, and still stronger, in the fixedness of his pur- 
pose to meet all the obligations of the moral law in 
perfecting a representative character for the fallen race. 
In this model character we find purity without a stain. 
His little feet remained entire strangers to the paths 
of sin and folly, while his young heart was growing 
more and more familiar with the duties, as well as with 
the woes and sorrows, of humanity. In his life we 
have a sun without a spot. The rising of this Spotless 
Sun was the death warrant of the Mosaic Economy. It 
was the withdrawing of the sable curtains of a long 
ebon night, and the ushering in of a brighter and bet- 
ter day, when unfettered and redeemed humanity wor- 
shiped the Father of all in spirit and in truth. His 
life was a perfect exhibition of love. His young soul 
was an entire stranger to selfishness. Love and hu- 
mility were among the principal characteristics of his 
childhood life. Hatred and arrogance were alike alien 
to his royal character. His demeanor, from sweet in- 
fancy to generous manhood, partook largely of the 
meekness and lowliness which characterized his public 



THE PIOUS CHILD OF EARTH. 5 1 

career in the world. He who came to heal the sorrow 
and take away the sin of the world, was himself, even 
in childhood, the world's great Moral Exemplar. 

Early piety also characterized the childhood life of 
the Growing King. He was truly and devotedly pious. 
Good thoughts were perfectly at home in his pure and 
innocent little heart. The way of duty, when made 
plain, was easily chosen by his loving and obedient 
soul. He walked in the ways of righteousness, even 
during the first feeble steps of his innocent life. Min- 
istering spirits supported the weakness of the flesh, and 
the Pious Child of earth soon ran with alacrity and de- 
light in the ways of God. The tender mind of the 
Young King willingly received the truth, but positively 
rejected the error. His little heart eagerly embraced 
the good, but cautiously turned away from the evil. 
His young soul warmed up under the genial rays of 
virtue, but shunned, as it would the deadly upas, the 
dark shades of vice. He was truly and purely spiritual 
in his devotions from his youth up. In him was con- 
densed all that is good, exalted, and spiritual in human 
nature. He alone developed heaven's ideal of humanity, 
and became the fit Representative and Guide of his 
ruined race. Thus, in childhood's tender years, the 
Youthful King presented the world with a model char- 
acter, not only preeminent in its moral grandeur, but 
also without a parallel in its spiritual excellency. 

The King's pathway through life was often rough, 
but strewn with many blessings : his afflictions were 
sometimes sore, but always mingled with infinite com- 
passion ; and his death was the most shameful and ig- 
nominious, but crowned at last with eternal glories. 



52 AN EXAMPLE FOR CHILDREN. 

The Little King was the humble Child of Heaven. 
He manifested no artificial pride or regal haughtiness 
in his conduct, not even through the weaker years of 
his childhood life. He was ever courteous and obliging 
to all around him. Hence he grew in their favor and 
seated himself deeply in their affections. He soon 
learned that pride and impudence were inseparable 
companions ; that haughtiness and cruelty marched hand 
in hand ; while humility and love always journeyed to- 
gether, beautifying and adorning the same noble char- 
acter through life. This royal example of the Child- 
King points all children early to the King's Highway of 
Holiness, which leads up through the dark trials, trou- 
bles, and tribulations of earth to the ineffable joys, bless- 
edness, and glories of heaven. 

With this remarkable life before us we should learn, 
early and always in our thoughts, to link with the 
attainments, the privileges of humanity ; with the priva- 
tions, the enjoyments of earth; with the duties, the 
promises of religion; with the trials, the supports of 
life, and, above all, should we link with the sins of men 
the Saviour of Sinners. 

It is the part of wisdom in children to view life in its 
true light, and then, like the Child Jesus, fulfill, with 
wonted fidelity, all its sacred obligations. To do this 
we must see to it that our little hearts are rieht before 
God ; and the sooner we get them right the better it 
will be for us ; for then our lives will much more easily 
harmonize with his divine will. 

But, children, this Child-King lived and finally died 
for us. We are, therefore, under special obligations to 
him, and ought at least to live for Jesus. Think just 



LIVING FOR OUR KING. 53 

one moment: For what, or for whom are you living? 
Some people live only for pleasure, but lay up for them- 
selves sorrow and deepest regret. Some live for riches 
alone, but are exceedingly poor at death. Some live 
for honor and renown, but die " unknown, unhonored, 
and unsung." Others live exclusively for safety. They 
gather around them a thousand earthly shields, but 
finally lie down exposed to the dangers of an endless 
death. All such persons work hardest for poorest pay ; 
they spend most, and receive least in return ; they live 
to no purpose, and die without any hope in death. For 
the vain delusions of time they forfeit the lasting happi- 
ness of eternity ; for the transient gratifications of earth 
they surrender the infinite fullness of heaven. But, 
children, there are those in the world who live for 
Christ. They manifest their gratitude to him in rearing 
monuments, sacred to his memory, in their life's con- 
duct. They lose sight of the world in their devotion to 
the Cross of Christ. Their feet are walking the earth, 
but their hopes are anchored in heaven. Their treas- 
ures and their hearts are there. They have a title to 
an inheritance worth infinitely more than all the treas- 
ures, riches and honors of earth. Such persons live 
for a noble purpose, and will die in the triumphs of a 
living faith in Jesus. Children, imitating this Child- 
King in your lives, you may so live, so die, and finally 
reign as kings and priests with him forever in the Par- 
adise of God. 



THE BOYHOOD OF THE KING. 



Chapter IV, 



Jesus increased in wisdom and statwe, and in favor with God and 
man. — Luke 2: 52 



The boyhood life of Jesus is of special and peculiar 
interest to the world. But this portion of his history is 
almost barren of recorded facts, and must, therefore, be 
largely conjectural. Inspiration records but one single 
event occurring in this period of his life, and that just at 
its close. And the gaps in the Apocryphal writings, 
covering his boyhood days, are very numerous, and 
some of them exceedingly large. It reminds one of the 
majestic ruins of some ancient city of the desert, with 
here and there a gigantic column standing as firm as 
the everlasting hills, while all around its departed glory 
lie the drifting sands of a bleak and sterile waste. 

In many respects the Young Galilean must have been 
much like other boys of his day and age. He possessed 
the buoyant spirit of boyhood life. He loved the so- 
ciety of his fellows. He enjoyed the innocent amuse- 
ments and harmless sports, as well as the necessary rec- 
reations, of boyhood days. He had a home congenial 
to these natural inclinations. Nazareth was the flower 
of Palestine. Of all the Galilean towns it is said to 

have been the most lovely for situation, and most to be 

(54) 



NAZARETH OF GALILKE. 55 

desired as a retired and attractive home. It was beau- 
tiful and romantic beyond description. It was regarded 
in spring-time as a princely paradise, because of its 
great number and variety of beautiful flowers. Its pict- 
uresque streets were terraces on the hill slopes, which 
overlooked the fertile plains and flowery vales beneath. 
It was a mountain village, with pure air and sunshine 
free. Then, it was a fit and fortunate home for the in- 
nocent Youno- Nazarene. The Father made no mistake 
in the orderings of providence which sent his Son to 
this quiet and beautiful little city, to be reared up 
among its lofty mountains and liberty-loving populace. 
Here the Boy King, with his jovial companions, climbed 
the towering hills, and rambled through the lovely val- 
leys, as boys are naturally wont to do in their hours 
of pastime and recreation. Here Jesus spent most of 
the years of his earthly pilgrimage. Here the happv 
days of his youthful life flitted away, like the golden 
moments of a pleasant dream. Among these hills, in 
these valleys, and on these streets, he spent the roman- 
tic years of his boyhood life. In his humble though 
happy home at Nazareth, drinking in the purity and 
freedom of its mountain air, this true-hearted and cren- 
erous Boy of Heaven, quick in intellect, vivid in imagi- 
nation, and gifted in all the noble characteristics of 
youthful life, developed into the perfect manhood of a 
Wonderful Nazarene, in whom there could be found no 
guile. Then if there be a spot on earth to which the 
Christian pilgrim may justly turn as the place which 
fitly symbolizes innocence, purity, and happiness, it is, 
of all others, the sacred home of the Holy Family in 
Nazareth of Galilee. 



56 BUSY BOYHOOD HOURS. 

Jesus made the very best of his boyhood hours. He 
gave none of those precious moments to idleness. A 
large proportion of this time was given to his intellectual 
and moral development. A greater part of this period 
of his life was doubtless spent in a school of some char- 
acter. For, strange as it may seem to us, we must 
remember that the Boy Jesus passed through all the 
stages, and was subject to all the necessities of human 
life. He was purely a human being, Evil alone had 
no seed, and consequently no growth in the spotless 
Young King. The innocence of infancy was never lost 
by him. He sanctified all the periods of human life 
through which he passed. He lived without sin, in the 
perfect development of all the Christian graces which he 
afterwards inculcated, in so far as they effected a sinless 
life. He was humanity's Ideal from the cradle to the 
cross. His human life was a perfect reflex of the divine 
character. His heart was the most sacred temple of 
the Holy Ghost, which was given him without measure. 
His soul was a divine mirror which gave back to earth 
and heaven all of their imparted grace, and its own in- 
nate glory. He saw things just as they were, and har- 
monized his grand and eventful life, even during its 
earlier stages, with all the varied scenes and peculiar 
surroundings through which he was called to pass. He 
made no mistake through all the sacred but perilous 
journey of life. He continued increasing all the time 
in wisdom as he grew in stature, and waxed stronger 
in spirit as he augmented in favor, both with his heavenly 
Father and his fellow-man. 

The maiden mother continued to exert considerable 
influence in the more rapid development of the wonder- 



JESUS IN THE JEWISH SYNAGOGUE. 57 

ful character of her Sinless Son. But, after the many 
sacred lessons given him by the Virgin and the more 
advanced instruction of Joseph, the little Boy King was 
carried to the Jewish synagogue for the still higher 
training" of the learned Rabbis. For the education of 
poor Jewish boys at that time was confined almost 
exclusively to moral and religious instruction. During 
this period of his life, the Rabbis were in the height of 
their ecclesiastical glory. They had been driven from 
the political arena by Herod the Great, and hence had 
turned their attention chiefly to the discussion of reli- 
gious questions. The Boy Jesus availed himself of every 
opportunity thus presented him for the study of the Holy 
Scriptures. He had soon mastered thousands of the 
legal definitions and decisions comprised in the elaborate 
religious jurisprudence of his day. So that at twelve 
years of age he was more than an equal for the Rab- 
binical schools at Jerusalem. Both his questions and 
his answers astonished beyond measure even the learned 
doctors of the law. He had not taken his seat in the 
synagogue at Nazareth Sabbath after Sabbath in vain. 
Neither had the Young Nazarene studied the Scriptures 
privately, week after week, for naught. He had stored 
away for future use, as every boy should, all the valu- 
able lessons learned in God's holy sanctuary, or culled 
from his Revealed Will, until his whole existence, at this 
age, was purely and spiritually religious. 

The Boy King also studied nature. His happy al- 
lusions to, and striking illustrations from natural things, 
in some of the richest lessons of his after-life, show most 
conclusively that he had been a close and successful 
student of every thing around him. But whatever he 



58 THE YOUNG GALILEAN'S WISDOM. 

may have gathered from natural and human sources, he 
was also the Pupil of Heaven. He opened his little 
heart daily, and received wisdom from God, who giveth 
to all liberally and upbraideth none. His richest lessons 
came directly from the Father, who willingly bestowed 
wisdom without measure upon his Divine Son, whose 
will was completely lost in his own. 

The Young Galilean had a mind sufficiently compre- 
hensive to grasp intuitively the sequences of coming 
events. He did not need to be brought up at the 
feet of a Gamaliel. Neither was it necessary for some 
learned Rabbi to initiate him into the mysteries of the 
arts and sciences of his day. He had already learned 
many of the grandest lessons both of science and theol- 
ogy directly from nature and Revelation. And he was 
also in constant communication with heaven. Hence he 
was soon the Master of Science, and most profoundly 
versed in sacred lore. In him were afterwards hidden all 
the resources of knowledge, and all the treasures of 
wisdom. The grand truths which he inculcated, during 
his public ministery, prove most conclusively that he did 
not receive his education solely from man. These great 
truths emanated from a mind so vast and comprehensive, 
and a soul so pure and lofty, that the former could 
never have been perverted, neither the latter contam- 
inated, by all the scholastic disputations, magical decep- 
tions and traditional legends of the misguided age in 
which he lived. For it must be admitted that all the 
worldly wisdom of that period, though exhausted on one 
individual, could never have produced such a profound 
moral instructor as even the Boy Jesus was at twelve 
years old. 



THAT INWARD MONITOR HEEDED. 59 

The Young King had a meek and meditative soul, 
vast in its youthful expansions, and infinite in its con- 
tinued developments. He also had a lofty soul which 
royalty could not dazzle ; an humble soul which honors 
could not trouble ; a pure soul which knew no vexation, 
and a noble soul which walked calmly alike through the 
joys, and sorrows of life. Being perfectly conscious of 
his own superiority, he journeyed on through this world 
with his ears ever open to that inward monitor whose 
whisperings always admonish us to flee the wrong and 
pursue the right. He recognized in this monitor, the 
sacred voice of his own soul speaking to the outer man 
in accents both audible and divine. Our souls are the 
citadels of our strength. There is light for us in the 
path trod by the Saviour. If we journey in that light, 
we are saved; but if we miss that path, we are lost. 
To shield ourselves successfully from the great adver- 
sary of souls, like the Boy King, we must guard well all 
its sacred avenues. For, the citadel once taken, the 
forces must all soon surrender. The soul once cap- 
tured, and all is lost. Give thy soul to God, that it may 
be strongly fortified against the pow T ers of darkness. 

In his boyhood days, Jesus was simply learning how 
to live that he might afterward, both by precept and ex- 
ample, teach ethers the same great lesson. The real 
victories of life are gained in our apprenticeship at 
learning how to live. The master struggle for conquest 
is right along on this line. There is no failure if we 
have once learned this grand lesson. We can not, 
therefore, learn it too soon or at too great a sacrifice. 
Success and failure, both here and hereafter, are but the 
necessary consequences of right and wrong living. Sue- 



60 HOW TO LIVE, LOVE AND LABOR. 

cess accompanies right living just as certainly as effect 
follows its legitimate cause. And failure, sooner or later, 
is inevitable whenever a wrong principle controls our life- 
actions. What is right living? It is living for God, 
through Christ, who is our life. For, when we live 
right, our lives are hid with Christ in God. The Boy 
Jesus lived right. His manners were always sweet and 
attractive. His demeanor was ever generous and cap- 
tivating. He loved every body, and the good all loved, 
and honored the pure and precious Boy of Nazareth. 
He was growing large, but he still remained subject to 
the will and wishes of his parents. He never forsook 
the counsel of his God. The benedictions of the former 
ever rested upon his sacred head. And he walked, at 
all times, conscious of the divine presence of the latter. 
The Father's grace ever distilled gently, and softly up- 
on the Young Son, like the falling dew or the morning 
light. 

The Boy King not only taught us how to live ; he al- 
so taught us how to love and labor. Just as his was 
the only perfect life, so his was also the only perfect 
love and labor the world has ever known since the fall 
of man. His love went far beyond that of his fellows. 
It was absolutely perfect in character, and infinitely per- 
fect in degree. He loved with purest and deepest de- 
votion those whose thoughts, purposes and hopes were 
kindred to his own. But he also loved with chords 
stronger than death his own inveterate and avowed ene- 
mies. So he loved more than his own life all sinners — 
even a world of fallen, depraved humanity. But the 
Boy Jesus was also a Worker. He both sanctioned and 
sanctified manual labor, the humble, but only honorable 



THE KING A CARPENTER. 6 1 

means of support for a vast majority of our race. The 
King was a Carpenter. He learned this humble trade, 
and made it the honorable means of his support for 
years. In this example he showed what a noble, and 
manly thing it is to work, even where idleness is the 
stamp o( aristocracy. He recognized in labor the girdle 
of manliness and the salt of life. He saw that it was 
the saviour of the body Irom effeminacy, and of the 
soul from pollution and crime. His labors through life 
were incessant and most arduous. And they had ref- 
erence mainly, if not solely, to the good of those for 
whom he toiled. No mercenary motives ever controlled 
his actions for a moment. He was perfectly content to 
labor for others, while he had not where to lay his own 
sacred, and weary head. The present and future hap- 
piness of mankind were the grand mainsprings which 
impelled him forward, in all the labors and sacrifices of 
his ever busy and most eventful life. 

There is a unique charm, in the vein of self-denial, 
which ran through the entire life of Jesus. His was the 
only absolutely unselfish life ever lived on earth. And 
it seems most unnatural to withhold the homage, and 
adoration of our hearts from so worthy a Personage. 
Our King lived, a man among men, sharing alike the 
joys and sorrows of humanity, and dignifying the hum- 
blest avocations, and professions of life in his own hum- 
ble occupation. He made every thing subservient to 
religion ; and thus inaugurated a system of benevolence 
which dethrones selfish devotion to our own personal 
interests, and crowns our lives with loving service and 
self-sacrificing devotion for the good of others. The 
natural currents of his benevolence, which flowed so 



62 A CRITICAL PERIOD OF LIFE. 

freely during his ministry of mercy, broadened and 
deepened at his sacrificial death into an overflowing sea 
of charity toward sinning, and suffering humanity. Let 
us ever imitate his noble example and live, love and 
labor until the Master says : It is enough ; well done, 
thou good and faithful servant. 

Jesus was twelve years old. This was a critical age 
for a Jewish boy. At this period of life, if not sooner, 
he was obliged to learn a trade upon which he could de- 
pend for his future support in case of an emergency. 
He was also emancipated, in part, from parental author- 
ity. At this age he became a subject of the law. He 
was no longer counted among the "little folks;" but 
was now recognized as belonging to the "grown up" 
class. He was now treated more like a man than a boy. 
This age was a decisive epoch in his literary pursuits : it 
qualified him for the battle-field ; and also authorized 
him to enter the marriage relation. Such were the 
changes and conditions to which the Young King was 
subject at this period of life. 

The parents of Jesus went annually to Jerusalem, to 
attend the feast of the Passover. The law did not re- 
quire the presence of the women at their three great 
Jewish festivals — the Passover, Pentecost and the Feast 
of Tabernacles. But, the pious devotion of many mothers 
in Israel forced them to join their husbands in, at least, 
some of these sacred pilgrimages to the Holy City. 
Jesus was now ready to assume the responsibilities of 
the law in his own person. So he accompanied his par- 
ents on this occasion, perhaps for the first time, to the 
great feast of the Passover. This journey, through a 
country and to a city teeming with such sacred wonders, 



THE BOY KING GOES TO JERUSALEM. 63 

and associated with so many marvelous events in the 
history of his peculiar people, must have exerted a power- 
ful influence upon the Devoted Boy. They journeyed 
on with the multitudes for several days. When they 
caught sight, at last, of the lofty towers of Jerusalem, 
they saw that the wings of the Roman Eagle were still 
overshadowing her past grandeur, and concealing her 
wonted glory. But, towering far above her massive 
walls, with its gilded roofs and marble colonnades, were 
seen, glittering in the sunlight of heaven, the glories of 
that Holy Temple toward which the lonely exiles of Is- 
rael from all lands turned, in their prayers, with such 
deep and fervid devotion. 

The Boy King was at last in full view of the great 
city of which his royal father David sang so touchingly, 
and for which the lonely captives of Babylon yearned, 
with such tender emotion, as they sat weary by the 
waters, and removed their hanging harps from the weep- 
ing willows to wail that mournful dirge in memory of 
her never-to-be-forgotten privileges. Knowing so well 
its history, and seeing so clearly its coming doom, 
the Boy Saviour must have looked with reverential 
but sad emotions upon the Holy City. They entered 
the metropolis, and mingled with its overflowing mul- 
titudes. 

The pilgrims, at this Passover, from every part of the 
country, might have been numbered by thousands. The 
city could not accommodate the vast crowds. They 
reared for themselves temporary booths, which furnished 
sufficient shelter for their temporary wants. This feast 
lasted a week, and was an occasion of much happiness, 
and deep religious emotion to many in Israel. 



64 THE BOY AMONG THE DOCTORS. 

The great Passover ended. The immense caravans 
started back on their homeward journeys. Music and 
mirth enlivened their returning pilgrimages. Some 
say the men, women and children formed three separate 
divisions of each moving caravan, during the hours of 
travel. At any rate, it was a very easy matter, in that 
great sea of humanity, to lose sight, for a time, of an 
interesting boy just budding into manhood. At night- 
fall of the first day's journey, the parents of the Young 
King learned that their Sacred Son was missing from 
the band of returning pilgrims. They were much per- 
plexed, and retraced their steps with haste to Jerusalem, 
in search of their Lost Boy. After three days of anx- 
ious inquiry and diligent effort, to their great surprise, 
they found the Young Rabbi seated in the Holy Temple, 
among the learned doctors of the law, who were both 
charmed and confounded at the depth of his profound 
questions, and the accuracy of his wonderful answers. 
The sacred record informs us, that all who heard him 
were astonished at his understanding. But the Gospel 
of his Infancy, enlarging on this brief story, adds so 
much to its interest, without displaying any want of 
harmony with the divine record, or fidelity to the sacred 
truth, that we feel disposed to give the account here in 
full. 

When Jesus was twelve years old, Joseph and Mary 
brought him to Jerusalem to the feast, and when the 
feast was over they returned. But the Lord Jesus con- 
tinued behind, in the Temple, among the doctors, elders 
and learned men of Israel, to whom he proposed sev- 
eral questions of learning, and also gave them answers ; 
for he said to them, Whose son is the Messiah ? They 



A LEARNED DISSERTATION. 65 

answered, The son of David. Why then, said he, does 
he in the Spirit call him Lord ? when he saith, The 
Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, till I 
have made thine enemies thy footstool. 

Then a certain principal Rabbi asked him, Hast thou 
read books? Jesus answered, he had read both books, 
and the things contained in books. And he explained 
to them the books of the law, and precepts, and stat- 
utes ; and the mysteries which are contained in the 
books of the prophets ; things which the mind of no 
creature could reach. Then said that Rabbi, I never 
yet have seen or heard of such knowledge ! What do 
you think that boy will be ? 

When a certain astronomer, who was present, asked 
the Lord Jesus, if he had studied astronomy, Jesus 
replied, and told him the number of the spheres and 
heavenly bodies, as also their triangular, square and 
sextile aspect ; their progressive and retrograde motion ; 
their size and several prognostications ; and other 
things which the reason of man had never discovered. 

There was also among them a philosopher, well 
skilled in physic and natural philosophy, who asked the 
Lord Jesus if he had studied physic. He replied, and 
explained to him physics and metaphysics ; also those 
things which were above and below the power of nature ; 
the powers also of the body, its humors and their ef- 
fects. Also the number of its members, bones, veins, 
arteries, and nerves ; the several constitutions of body, 
hot and dry, cold and moist, and the tendencies of them ; 
how the soul operated upon the body ; what its various 
sensations and faculties were; the faculty of speaking, 
anger, desire ; and, lastly, the manner of its composition 
5 



66 THE LOST BOY FOUND. 

and dissolution, and other things which the understand- 
ing of no creature had ever reached. Then that philos- 
opher arose, and worshiped the Lord Jesus, saying, O 
Lord Jesus, from henceforth I will be thy disciple and 
servant. 

But while they were discoursing on these and such 
like things, his mother Mary came in, having been three 
days walking about with Joseph, seeking for him. 
And when they saw him sitting among the doctors, 
and in his turn proposing questions to them, and giv- 
ing answers, she said to him : My Son, why hast thou 
done thus by us ? Behold, I and thy father have been at 
much pains seeking thee. He replied : Why did ye 
seek me ? Did ye not know that I ought to be em- 
ployed in my Father's house ? But they understood 
not the words which he said to them. Then the doc- 
tors asked Mary if he was her son ; and when she said 
he was, they said : O happy Mary, who hast borne such 
a son ! Then he returned with them to Nazareth, and 
obeyed them in all things. And his mother kept all 
these things in her mind ; and the Lord Jesus grew in 
stature and wisdom, and in favor with God and man. 

It was perfectly natural that this learned galaxy of 
divines should have been charmed, and confounded at 
the presence of this noble-hearted boy as he stood be- 
fore them, in all the beauty and simplicity of his boy- 
hood life, discoursing so profoundly about divine things. 
Especially was this true, when they remembered that 
he had not been educated in the Rabbinical schools at 
Jerusalem. For, like the enemies of Jesus in after- 
years, they often made the very common mistake of 
substituting erudition for learning, or knowledge for 



A VOICELESS PERIOD. 67 

wisdom. They were slow to comprehend this impor- 
tant fact, that true learning, or wisdom of the purest 
and deepest mold, was independent of, and infinitely 
above all that constituted the knowledge or erudition 
of their Rabbinical schools. Though perfectly con- 
scious of his divinity, having just emitted from his royal 
majesty so many rays of his kingly glory, with all the 
manliness and humility of a dutiful son, the Young 
King returned with his earthly parents to Nazareth of 
Galilee, and was still obedient to them in all the re- 
quirements which they made at his hands. 

We are told that from this time Jesus gave himself to 
the study of the law, till he arrived at the end of his 
thirtieth year. About eighteen years then passed away 
with no record of his words of wisdom, or deeds of 
noble daring. Not a footprint is left on the sands of 
time to mark definitely any of his mysterious journey- 
ings. We only know, that during this long period of 
his life, it was his custom to teach in the synagogue on 
the Sabbath day, and that by some means he captivated 
the hearts of the people, and continued to increase in wis- 
dom and stature, as he grew in favor with God and man. 
During this voiceless period the Silent Nazarene must have 
astonished the multitudes occasionally with the depth 
of his constantly increasing wisdom. Their hearts, no 
doubt, often melted under the gentle influence of his 
sweet spirit of love. And at times he doubtless charmed 
his large audiences with his youthful eloquence. For 
his was an eloquence of his own. It was peculiar to 
himself. It differed alike from the majestic diction of 
the ancient prophets and the emphatic exaggerations 
of the proud Rabbins of his day. It was simple, yet 



68 HIS WONDERFUL WORDS OF LIFE. 

sublime. It was eloquence, the most humble in its pre- 
tensions, and yet the grandest in its loftier flights. 

During these solitary vigils of the Young Galilean, he 
became more and more conversant with the loftiest 
conceptions of Israel's sacred seers, who had been so 
richly endowed through the channel of divine inspiration. 
The learned and eloquent Young Nazarene became 
eminently qualified to instruct, and continued to teach 
the people in the synagogue at Nazareth. Those who 
listened to his soul-stirring words were among the most 
highly favored auditors ever assembled in this world. 
For there was grandeur and harmony in the sublime 
truths he uttered. There was life in the thought, music 
in the voice and melody in the soul of the Young Orator. 
Like the gentle breezes which swept the y^Eolian harp 
of the royal prophet, the harmonious breathings of a 
more sublime inspiration, kissed the melodious chords 
of a sweeter harp struck by the fingers of his Royal Son. 
The Gifted Speaker'spoke with such winning grace and 
matchless power that his hearers were often astonished, 
but gladly listened to his tender accents of love and 
wonderful words of life. 

The Young King spoke as one having innate authority. 
He made no appeal to others to substantiate his state- 
ments ; for his highest authority rested in the obvious 
truthfulness of his own words. If he occasionally referred 
to the Jewish Scriptures, it was simply to show how per- 
fectly his teachings harmonized with the voice of inspi- 
ration. This divine authority touched all hearts ; silenced 
all lips, and forced even his opponents to acknowledge 
that he had spoken all things well. These sacred truths 
had never before been expressed with such childlike 



HIS DIVINE ART AND HOLY UNCTION. 69 

simplicity and infinite wisdom. Religion had never 
before been brought, with such authority, so near the 
every-day life of the world. The Wise Nazarene looked 
right down into the hearts, and expressed the ways and 
wants of his audiences as none had ever done before. 
His matchless voice sank into the very depth of their 
souls, and they could but acknowledge the authority of 
its awful and resistless power. He spake as one having 
divine authority. Jesus above all others possessed that 
divine art and holy unction which should ever character- 
ize the Gospel ministry. These qualifications, so neces- 
sary to success in the ministry, are not innate, but heaven- 
derived. The Father bestowed them upon his Immacu- 
late Son in all their fullness and power, because he asked 
for them in the simplicity of his implicit faith, and with 
a heart always open for their reception. Let the ministry 
imitate his noble example, and they will scon be able to 
manifest his power, and show forth his glory in the proc- 
lamation of his Gospel of Grace to the ends of the earth. 
We love to contemplate the private life of the Silent 
King during these voiceless years of his sinless soli- 
tude. Here we find an exhaustless fountain of sacred 

lore. The noble Young" Nazarene knew nothing of the 

<_> <_> 

vile passions which corrupt the hearts, or the personal 
sins which agitate the souls of young men, in all the 
avocations and callings of life. His was a heart full of 
grace, a soul replete with grandeur, and a destiny to be 
crowned with infinite glory. Never have men seen so 
many perfections blended in any other character. Never 
will the world witness such grace and grandeur united 
in a mere mortal man. Jesus was the Masterpiece of 
Humanity, the Wonder of Ages, the Ideal of Heaven. 



JO THE SILENT AND SINLESS YEARS OF JESUS. 

The silent hours of this secluded, and solitary life of 
the Young King are full of precious lessons, overflowing 
with consolation and encouragement to the apparently 
insignificant and obscure of earth. These lessons teach 
us that prominent action, public service and brilliant 
success are not essentials to true and noble living. 
They also teach us that the lot of those who spend their 
years in private life, unhonored and unsung in the pub- 
lic arena, is the safest and happiest lot after all. 

All of these silent and sinless years of Jesus were 
spent in toil, submission and obscurity ; in contentment, 
humility and prayer, that he might prepare himself well 
for life's great mission, and leave an example worthy of 
imitation to all ages. It was during these private years, 
in the midst of evil associations and unhallowed sur- 
roundings, that the Spotless Nazarene developed that 
perfect representative character for the world. It was 
at this time, and under these circumstances that he kept 
the law perfectly, and thus taught by example what he 
afterwards taught by precept — how to live a life wholly 
consecrated to the service of God. Jesus, in his private 
life, was the Moral Hero of the world. Moral excel- 
lency always adorned his matchless character. And his 
laws, — personal, relative and religious, — were all rec- 
ommended by his own example, before they were en- 
forced by his sovereign authority. So ended the boy- 
hood days and private life of the King of Glory. 



THE NATURE OF THE KIXG. 



Chapter V. 



Verily lie took not on him the nature of angels. — Heb. 2:16. 



The nature of the King of Glory is one of the most 
profound mysteries connected with his manifestation in 
the flesh. This mistery consists in the harmonious 
union of the human and divine elements in one and the 
same Remarkable Personage. Inspiration represents 
Jesus Christ as possessing both a human, and a divine 
nature — as being both God and man. If we fail fully 
to comprehend this great mystery, that is no reason for 
rejecting the revealed fact, any more than a failure to 
fathom the relations of a united soul and body, would 
justify us in denying this universally admitted truth. 
Jesus Christ was a Compound Being, with a two-fold 
nature. He was most emphatically our God-man. He 
was Divinity, revealed to us in humanity. To prove 
these important truths, and in so doing to set the King 
of Glory before our readers, in the depth of his humilia- 
tion, and the height of his exaltation, will be our pur- 
pose in the present chapter. 

The two-fold nature of the King is seen clearly in the 

four-fold Gospels of the Evangelists. They wrote their 

respective biographies of the Saviour from four different 

stand-points. And in this God-man of these Gospels 

(71) 



J 2 A DIVINE PORTRAITURE. 

we find the most compassionate and perfect mannood 
mysteriously united with the Incarnate and Divine Son- 
ship. Jesus, viewed from the stand-point of his four- 
fold Gospel, is a person of the most profound interest to 
all lovers of sacred history. The enemies of these Gos- 
pels have represented their teachings as a mass of 
myths, legends and ideal creations, unworthy the life 
and lessons of the real or actual Jesus. This, however, 
is but the subterfuge of ignorance and infidelity, and a 
virtual acknowledgment of their inability to account for 
their miraculous narratives and lofty moral tone, on any 
other hypothesis than that of their inspiration. For 
they know that the sacred stories of these Gospels are 
no floating mass of visionary legends, or cunningly de- 
vised fables, but the embodiment of truths the most 
wonderful and sublime. They must acknowledge that 
these four Gospels portray the same Great Character 
from different points of view. The unity of this Char- 
acter, as seen from these different stand-points, is suffi- 
cient proof to disclose forever the odious fallacy, which 
gives to this grandest of all characters a mere ideal cre- 
ation. The fact is, and his enemies all realize it, the 
portraiture given us by these four Evangelists was 
copied from the life, and is the correct delineature of 
an Individual, who really existed in the divine, but hu- 
manized, Personage of Jesus Christ, the God-man. 

These four Gospels are mere memoirs of the Sav- 
iour's public ministry, presenting to the world the great 
fundamental principles of Christianity. Yet, each Gos- 
pel, viewed from its proper stand-point, is a faithful rec- 
ord of his life, and bears on its own face certain positive 
proofs of its authenticity and inspiration. Who would 



THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS. J3 

question for a moment the authenticity, ana truthfulness 
of a Life of Washington, simply because it chanced to 
be the result of the combined efforts of four different bi- 
ographers, viewing ihe Father of our country, in his 
eventful life, from as many different stand-points ? Let 
us glance for a moment at such a Biography of this 
truly great and good man, and see if we can find aught 
in it to condemn or disparage. The first has written 
from a historical stand-point, giving the incidents of his 
life in regular detailed order, with no special reference 
to their character or importance. The second has 
written from a moral stand-point, noticing only such 
events as bring out the more striking moral lessons of 
his grand and influential life. The third has written 
from a military stand-point, detailing most minutely all 
of the adventures of his soldier-life with their purity of 
purpose and deeds of heroic, and noble daring. But 
the fourth, viewing him in the glory of his statesman- 
ship, has written from this exalted stand-point, dwelling 
almost exclusively upon the scenes, and surroundings of 
that period of his life out of which shines the true no- 
bility and grandeur of his lofty soul. They all differ 
materially, and yet they all agree harmoniously. Just 
so with the Synoptic Gospels of Jesus Christ. They 
are but so many Biographies of the Saviour's life writ- 
ten from as many stand-points, and hence differing ma- 
terially in their general make-up, but agreeing most 
perfectly in the concord of their unity. Let us look for 
a moment at these Biographies also, and see if there be 
any grounds for condemning and rejecting their harmo- 
nious presentation of truths relative to the life and 
teachings of the King of Glory. 



74 A JEW TO THE JEWS. 

The first of these Gospels was written by Matthew, a 
Jew to the Jews, and hence from a Jewish stand-point. 
He was one of the twelve apostles, and consequently 
an eye-witness to much that he recorded. He gives 
them the genealogy of Jesus back through the lineage 
of King David to the Father of the Jewish race, and 
there he stops. That answers his purpose. He pre- 
sented him to the Jews as the Lion of the tribe of Ju- 
dah. His object was to influence them to accept him 
as their Promised Messiah. Hence he showed them 
how Jesus loved his enemies ; how he sent the apostles 
first to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and then 
gave them the parables of the sower, the marriage 
supper and others of importance bearing on the same 
point. He then led them to the scenes of his transfig- 
uration, and showed them Moses and Elias, the repre- 
sentatives of their Law and Prophecy, talking with 
Jesus about the consummation of his great work. He 
also pictured to them the destruction of their Beloved 
City, and their shameful crucifixion of their Rejected 
Messiah. Here is one of Ezekiel's living creatures 
with the face of a lion. 

The second Gospel was written by Mark. He was 
not an apostle, but for years the constant companion of 
Peter, and also his faithful interpreter. And no doubt 
many of the detailed facts, memorable sayings and in- 
teresting doings of the Saviour, recorded in his Gospel, 
were the sweet reminiscences given him by this distin- 
guished apostle. But Mark wrote as a servant to serv- 
ants, and hence from a menial stand-point. He took 
the Master up, without any genealogy, when ready for 
service, and followed him through his life of toil and 



A GOSPEL FROM THE HUMAN STAND-POINT. 75 

labor, sorrow and servitude, as the Common Servant of 
the people. He presented Jesus to the populace as 
One who had worked many miracles, wrought many 
cures, calmed the raging tempest, cast out legions of 
devils, healed all manner of diseases, raised the dead, 
fed the multitudes, walked on the waves, unstopped the 
deaf ears, opened the blinded eyes, blessed the little 
children and taught his disciples that the chief among 
them should be servant of all. Here is the creature of 
burden with the face of an ox. Here is the Servant- 
King, bearing the weight of our woes and the burden 
of our sins. 

The third Gospel was written by Luke. He was a 
doctor ; and its medical terms show most conclusively 
that its peculiar phraseology came from the vocabulary 
of a physician. Luke was not an apostle, but for a time 
the fellow-traveler of Paul, the great apostle of the Gen- 
tiles. He wrote his Gospel to humanity ; and hence 
from the human stand-point. He traced the genealogy 
of Jesus clear back to Adam. He gave an interesting 
account of his birth, and recorded some incidents of his 
infancy. He brought him on up to manhood, increasing 
in stature, and growing in knowledge and wisdom with 
the flight of years. He led him to the Jordan, conse- 
crated him a Priest forever after the order of Melchise- 
dec, and started him out upon his public ministry. Jesus 
was tempted of the devil, succored by the Father and 
gained a most signal victory for humanity. He preached 
in Galilee, chose his twelve apostles, sent out the sev- 
enty, invited to the Gospel feast, spoke of his lost sheep, 
received the prodigal son, wept over Jerusalem, was 
mocked by Herod, sentenced by Pilate, crucified by his 



j6 A GOSPEL FROM THE DIVINE STAND-POINT. 

enemies and buried by his disciples. Here is Ezekiel's 
living creature with the face, and fate of a man. 

But the fourth Gospel was written by the beloved 
apostle John. He wrote more especially to the Church ; 
and hence from the divine stand-point. John wrote his 
Gospel in his old age, and it contains many of the sweet- 
est, and most precious reminiscences of his Lord's sacred 
life and sacrificial death. He loved to contemplate the 
Master as a Divine Being. He viewed him almost con- 
stantly during his later years from the divine stand-point. 
He saw in him the Alpha and Omega, the Incarnate 
Word, the Rabbi, or Master of Israel, the Messiah, or 
Christ of Prophecy, the Bread of Life, the Light of the 
World, the Son of God, the Father's Gift of Love, the 
Risen Saviour and the Ascended God. Here is Ezeki- 
el's fourth living creature with the face, and flight of an 
eagle mounting up to heaven. 

These four Synoptic Gospels teach us three things, 
concerning Jesus Christ, which can not be successfully 
contradicted: namely, that he was verily and truly man; 
that he was just as truly and verily God, and conse- 
quently that substantial divinity, and real humanity were 
combined in his person as manifested in the flesh. The 
Christ of these Gospels then was evidently composed 
of two distinct natures, the human and the divine. But 
these two factors blended with such perfect harmony, 
shaded into each other with such exquisite perfection, as 
to constitute a most desirable unity, and give us, in the 
mysterious person of Jesus Christ, but one Saviour. 
This compound nature of the King is the combined re- 
sult of the facts narrated, and not the artificial product 
of its own delineators. For the Evangelists were most 



THE CHRIST OF THE GOSPELS. JJ 

artless in the indirect creation of this wonderful charac- 
ter of their Historic Hero. They recorded no bursts of 
admiration at the displays of his matchless power, or 
the manifestations of his infinite condescension. They 
simply chronicled his words and works without approval 
or applause; and thus they most successfully delineated 
his distinctive character; brought to light his marvelous 
nature, and gave the world its greatest wonder and rich- 
est blessing, the Christ of his own inspired Gospels. 

Then, if the Christ of these Gospels be a historic reality, 
this satisfies all the historical statements, and conditions 
of the case. But if he be a mere ideal creation, this 
involves a mass of hopeless contradictions and sacrile-' 
gious absurdities, from which reason, refusing credence v 
intuitively recoils. For it would be impossible to aepict 
a more perfectly human Jesus, or a more obviously divine 
Christ than the Jesus Christ of these inspired Gospels, 
which unite in him the highest conceivable dignity with 
the lowest possible humiliation. History nowhere records 
a more perfectly human, or a more genuinely divine 
character than these Gospels give to Jesus Christ. The 
human, and divine natures of the King then were in- 
separately united, actually and closely blended, and 
constituted the two principal factors in his mysterious 
character, as delineated in this magnificent portraiture. 
But none of the Spurious Gospels contradict this position. 
They all, with one accord, chime in with inspiration 
and pronounce his nature a combination of the human 
and divine. 

How humanity and divinity were harmonized in the 
Incarnate Son, w r e can not tell. These combined natures 
of the King baffle the comprehension of the finite mind. 



yS THE GOD-MAN AMONG MEN. 

The relations which existed between these two elements 
are also beyond the grasp of the ablest theologians of 
the world. But that there was infinite wisdom, and ex- 
hausted mines of wealth in this feature of the great 
Remedial System, the history of all subsequent ages 
fully attests. The God-man walked forth in his humanity 
among men, and they readily recognized his divinity. 

The Representative of heaven and earth was seen in 
all the manifestations of his human weakness and divine 
power. In the King earthly sorrow was blended with 
heavenly wisdom, and eternal glory lost in his compas- 
sionate love for sinners. His wonderful nature was 
crowned with his personal originality. And his humanity 
and divinity need no stronger proofs of the reality of 
their existence than are to be found in his own extraor- 
dinary life. 

Vicarious suffering for sin, in human form, was possible 
only when that form was clothed with the merits of a 
divine nature. Hence we do not insist on the union of 
the divine and human in Christ, as a mere mysterious 
theological dogma ; but as a most important and practi- 
cal element in the Divine Economy of human redemp- 
tion. The presence of Deity on the field of battle, in- 
dicated at once the power of sin, and the ruin it had 
wrought in the world. It also pointed out the imminent 
danger of the pending crisis. But while the divine 
nature, with its fullness of grace and reserve of power, 
insured a great victory, it was equally important, and 
befitting that human nature should also be represented 
in the person of the Mighty Conqueror, that sympathy 
and sorrow might be mingled with grace and glory, in 
the great work of man's salvation. The solitude and 



THE KING S COMPOUND NATURE. 79 

shadows of a soul filled with the sorrows, and burdened 
with the suffering of others, proclaim his distinctive 
humanity, while the meekness and majesty with which 
he bowed his mighty head, in behalf of his enemies, to 
the fatal stroke of imperial justice, proves, beyond a 
doubt, his matchless divinity. From the very depth of 
of his crushed, and bleeding heart arose the fragrance 
of deepest devotion to God, and of divine compassion for 
man. The sacred influences of that horrible hour have 
floated triumphantly down the stream of time, and are 
destined to flood eternity with the loved memories of his 
mercies and his woes. It is when seen in this two-fold 
nature, that the Incarnation towers to the very heavens, 
and sends down its showers of grace and floods of glory, 
for the regeneration of a wicked world. 

This mysterious union of the King's compound nature 
was not perfected at his nativity. Humanity did not 
drink in, or identify itself at once with all the infinite 
perfections and attributes of Deity. The perfecting of 
this union required years of growth, developement and 
assimilation upon the part of his humanity. He must, 
as a human being, develop in stature, increase in know- 
ledge, advance in wisdom and grow in grace, and also 
in favor with God and man for thirty years, before he 
can, as God-man, complete in all the perfections of this 
marvelous union, become the successful Mediator be- 
tween God and man. He must also have an experience, 
as well as a development, in his human nature, which 
will fit him for the grave, and important mission of recon- 
ciling depraved humanity with Exalted Divinity. He 
must needs be touched with the feeling of human in- 
firmities, before he could reach down, with his divine 



SO HIS HUMANITY AND HUMILIATION. 

hand, clasp a fallen race and lift it up, out of the depth 
and degradation of sin, into the marvelous light and 
liberty of the Divine Presence. The perfection of this 
union, however, was eventually accomplished. The 
Model Man blended, at length, in perfect harmony with 
the Gospel God. This gave to the world its greatest, 
and most sublime prodigy — a God-man' as its Prophet, 
Priest and King. 

THE PROOF OF THE KING'S HUMANITY 

is but the sad history of his humiliation. In his infinite 
condescension, he left his eternal throne of glory, passed 
by the higher order of intelligences, took not upon him 
the nature of angels, but descended to the level of fallen 
humanity, clothed himself in the corruptions of the flesh — 
assumed our nature, and became our Second Adam and 
Royal Advocate. The simple fact that he did become 
our Second Adam, or the Last Representative of the 
race, proves his humanity, and clothes him at once with 
our fallen nature. For Adam represented human nature 
as a unit — a single thing. He was on trial, under a law 
which demanded the establishment of a perfect character 
for the nature he represented. Perfect obedience was 
the only condition upon which this character could be 
formed. Upon no other terms could Adam ever be 
confirmed, under the covenant of works, and conveyjto 
those, who might afterwards wear this represented nature, 
a legal standing before God. But Adam failed in this 
obedience ; and human nature fell with his fall. Adam 
was then banished, but not expelled. He was dead; 
and death reigned over the nature which he had sub* 
jected to the penalty of the law. It matters not what 



THE KING TO THE RESCUE. 8 1 

death followed, as the penalty of this fall, for all death 
is eternal in its nature. Death is not the mere absence, 
or suspension of life, but its utter destruction. It is not 
an agent, but an effect; and hence has no power to 
stay its own reign. It could never end of itself. Xo 
matter then in what form death came, in this penalty, 
still it was eternal in its nature, and nothing short of 
divine power could ever terminate its dominion, and 
restore its subjects to the enjoyment of life again. 

Our fallen nature lay in the meshes of sin and death, 
from which it could never have extricated itself. But at 
this critical juncture the King came to the rescue as our 
Second Adam. He came to do for the race what Adam 
had done, and also what he had failed to do. He came 
both to represent human nature as a unit, and also to 
establish for it a perfect character under the law. But 
to do this the King himself must become a human be- 
ing. He must wear human nature, before he can rep- 
resent it. He must be made under the broken law, be- 
fore he can magnify and make it honorable. 

The fall of our first representative was through unbe- 
lief and disobedience. The restoration by our Second 
Representative was through obedience and faith. Adam 
represented us under a covenant of works, which car- 
ried with it a legitimate penalty — spiritual death. In 
his fall we also fell under the penalty of that covenant. 
But Christ came and represented us, under that same 
covenant, until he had worked out for human nature a 
perfect representative character under the law. He 
then paid the penalty of that covenant for us in his spir- 
itual death upon the cross, brought the race out from 
under the covenant of works, with its paid penalty, and 



82 HE LOOKED LIKE A MAN. 

placed it under the covenant of grace with its proffered 
blessings. But this covenant of grace has its penalty 
also, which is eternal death — everlasting banishment from 
the reconciled presence of God. Human nature has 
been placed on trial again. But under this covenant of 
grace every man is his own representative, and is ac- 
countable for his own conduct. Each one stands, or 
falls upon his or her own act of obedience or disobedi- 
ence. This covenant is one of equity: hence Christ 
never has, and never will pay its penalty for any one. 
If broken by an individual, he must meet the penalty in 
his own person, for there will be none to pay it for him. 
Then if we are lost, it will be in consequence of our 
own, and not of Adam's transgression. 

The form and features of the King are evidences of 
his humanity. He looked like a man. He walked forth 
among men, perfect in form and feature, with eyes beam- 
ing with gladness or streaming with tears ; with a heart 
beating with love, or melting with sorrow, and with lips 
ladened with blessings, or silent in sympathy. His was 
a manly majesty and a saintly beauty, which naturally 
awakened in the mind feelino-s of religious veneration. 
For he was not clothed with soft raiment, or clad in gor- 
geous apparel. No kingly robes mantled his shoulders ; 
no imperial crown adorned his brow. He wore a sim- 
ple oriental peasant's garb. His attraction, as a man, 
lay in his person and not in his apparel. Pilate says : 
One day in passing by the place of Siloe, where there 
was a great concourse of people, I observed, in the 
midst of the group, a young man who was leaning against 
a tree, calmly addressing the multitude. I was told it 
was Jesus. This I could easily have suspected, so great 



DESCRIPTION OF THE KING. 8$ 

was the difference between him and those who were 
listening to him. He appeared to be about thirty years 
of age. His golden colored hair and beard gave to his 
appearance a celestial aspect. Never have I seen a 
sweeter, or a more serene countenance. What a con- 
trast between him and his hearers, with their black 
beards and tawny complexion. * * * For some 
time I contemplated with admiration and awe this ex- 
traordinary type of man, a type of man unknown to our 
numerous painters, who have given form and figure to 
all the gods and heroes. 

Jesus was a man of medium size, upon whose face the 
purity anxLcharm of youth mingled with the thoughtful- 
ness and dignity of manhood. His noble features were 
marred by sorrow, and his grave countenance saddened 
with grief. His pure, penetrating eyes had often glowed 
through tears. Yet no man could look unmoved and 
unawed into his calm and comely face. It was the face 
of a man, but it wore too much of the grace and 
majesty of the King in his beauty, or the Son in his 
glory. Publius Lentullus, in a letter to the Roman 
Senate, said : Conscript fathers, there has appeared in 
these, our days, a man named Jesus Christ, who is yet 
living among us, and of the Gentiles is accepted as a 
prophet of great truth. But his own disciples call him 
the Son of God. He hath raised the dead and cured all 
manner of diseases. He is a man of nature, somewhat 
tall and comely, with a very ruddy countenance, such 
as the beholder may both love and fear. His hair is 
the color of the filbert when fully ripe, plain to his ears, 
whence downward it is more orient of color, curling and 
waving about his shoulders. In the middle of his head 



84 JESUS GREW WEARY. 

is a seam or partitio'n of long hair, after the manner of 
the Nazarites. His forehead is plain and delicate, his 
face without spot or wrinkle, beautified with a comely 
red, his nose and mouth are exactly formed, his beard 
is of the color of his hair, and thick, not of any great 
length, but forked. In reproving he is terrible ; in ad- 
monishing, courteous ; in speaking, very modest and 
wise ; in proportion of body, well shaped. None have 
seen him laugh, but many have seen him weep. A man 
for his surpassing beauty excelling the children of men. 
The fact that Jesus often grew weary, that his nature 
demanded rest, food and sleep as he journeyed on 
through life, is a strong evidence of his humanity. In 
some respects his life was apart from men — unlike other 
men ; but after all, he was more human than humanity 
itself. He recognized, as no other individual ever did, 
the ties and obligations which bound him to his fellow- 
men. Man, in his simple humanity, was so precious to 
Jesus that he had but little to say about the distinction 
between men. It was enough for him to know that one 
wore the same nature which he came to represent, be- 
longed to the same race which he came to redeem, and 
he was ready at once to welcome him to his heart, and 
bear his burdens upon his own soul. The common 
people soon learned to recognize in the Noble Naza- 
rene a Friend to the needy, a Comforter of the afflicted 
and the Preacher of Righteousness to the poor. Jesus 
was the very essence of humanity, divested of all its 
prejudices and imperfections. The purpose of his mis- 
sion was to promote the happiness of his race, irrespect- 
ive of station or standing, caste or nationality. His 
great, warm, sympathetic heart reached out, in its affec- 



HIS SYMPATHETIC NATURE. 85 

tions, after all classes and conditions of humanity. He 
embraced every opportunity to enforce his salutary les- 
sons, and confer his inestimable favors upon all men. 
He placed himself among, and taught the great masses 
of humanity as no other teacher had ever done, in all 
the history of the world. Jesus has been humanity's 
Greatest Benefactor. He has done more than all others 
combined to stay the moving tide of misery, and amel- 
iorate the sad condition of our race. His guiding hand 
may be traced all along the lines of human history : his 
commanding voice may be heard in all the reformations 
of human society, and his controlling power may be felt 
in all the conquests of human knowledge. His human 
life is without a parallel in the world's history. It is 
grander than the lives of all the great and good of 
earth. And he, who was so powerful in his human nat- 
ure, is almighty in his divine attributes, and even 
Satan can not resist his matchless power. He will, at 
length, burst open the last brazen gate of cruelty, made 
fast with the iron bars of death, and let all his captives 
go free. 

The fact that Jesus entered so fully into sympathy 
with others, and shed so many tears over them, express- 
ive of his deep solicitude, is another strong proof of 
his humanity. There is a halo of glory which clusters 
around the sympathetic nature of the King, and pre- 
sents him as preeminently human in the depth of his 
feelings for sinning and suffering humanity. The King's 
merciful mission to men had intimate relation to man's 
bitterest bereavements and highest hopes, as well as to 
his doubtful destiny. The great sigh of humanity's 
sick, and saddened soul rose up from the deepest depth 



86 TEARS A LUXURY TO HUMANITY. 

of its sufferings and sorrows, when men gazed up into 
the helpless heavens, which appeared to keep the untold 
secret of their future weal or woe locked up in its capa- 
cious bosom. But, at last, that signal sigh found an 
echo in the responsive soul of the Sympathetic Saviour. 
And the sad sigh of true penitence rises to heaven no 
more, without a ready response from the great heart of 
the King, who is still touched with the feelings of our 
infirmities. The King often wept. Tears are a lux- 
ury to humanity: They open the heart for the inflowing 
of the greatest, and most lasting of all joys. Jesus went 
forth into the field as a laborer, toiling and weeping, 
watering the seed sown with his own tears. He labored 
on, under the shadow of a great sorrow, and toiled on, 
under the weight of a mighty burden, that he might 
comfort all who mourn, and pour the oil of gladness 
into every bleeding and broken heart. There is hope 
for the sinner, who weeps at the sight of the cross. 
There is always good in tears, when they lead us to the 
Fountain of Joy. The cross was designed to make men 
weep, only that they might sing and shout for gladness. 
When Jesus is formed in our hearts — the hope of glory, 
our tears are lost in gratitude, our mourning turned 
into gladness and we rejoice with joy unspeakable and 
full of glory. 

The depth of the King's humility, and infinite conde- 
scension, prove his humanity. His incarnation furnishes 
us with an example of condescension and humility, un- 
paralleled in the world's history. He fathomed the most 
fearful depth of humiliation. He took upon him the 
form of a servant, and made himself of no reputation 
that he might lift fallen humanity up from its low estate 



THE KING'S WEIGHT OF AGONY. Sj 

of degradation and despair, to the hopes of a higher 
and holier life. It was that his race might be treated 
as innocent, that the King submitted to the shame and 
humiliation of Calvary. It was that the world's iniquity 
might be blotted out, that the blood of Jesus was shed 
upon the cross. It was that he might spoil the domin- 
ion of death, and throw wide open the gates of life to 
all men, that the Condescending Conqueror consented 
to enter the grave, and dwell among the dead. Calvary 
was the scene of the King's most wonderful humilia- 
tion ; the spot of his saddest and sorest trials, and the 
place of his deepest and darkest condescension. Here, 
Jesus died that sinners might live. Here, Christ paid 
the debt that humanity could not pay. Here, the King 
gave himself an humble ransom for the sins of the world. 
Humility ! humility ! humility ! without a comparison. 

The King's ^reat burden of sorrow, and immense 
weight of agony are among the most powerful evidences 
of his humanity. Every pang of sorrow, and every 
piercing agony felt by the Suffering Saviour are so many 
proofs of his dying love for a lost and ruined race. But 
they are, none the less, evidences of his own humanity. 
It was the angry cloud of a world's sin, which threw a 
shadow of intense darkness over his burdened soul, and 
left him hanging upon the cross smitten, afflicted and 
forsaken of God. Here, he bore the burden of human- 
ity's griefs, and carried the weight of her sorrows that 
he might pour the oil of gladness into human hearts, and 
the balm of consolation into wounded souls. But the 
Man of Sorrows is also the fountain of great joy to all 
people, and the Lamb of Agony, the well-spring of life 
to the world. The mighty sorrow of the King's last 



88 the king's divinity. 

night in the bloody Garden of Gethsemane, and the final 
and fearful agonies of the next day upon the crimson 
cross of Calvary, will be the wonder of holy angels and 
redeemed men forever. 

The purity and grandeur of the King's human nature, 
you see, were often put to the sorest tests ; but never 
found wanting. And his followers should learn from his 
own life, that they are to pass through weakness to 
strength, through failures to success, through defeat to 
victory ; and through the sufferings, consequent to human 
nature, enter at last into the joys of heaven. 



tell most beautifully the story of his exaltation. For, the 
Father hath highly exalted him, and given him a name 
high above every other name, whether on earth or in 
heaven. The sad scenes of his humiliation closed on 
the morning of his triumphant resurrection, and the joy- 
ful reign of his exaltation began. Jesus was buried like 
a pauper, by the hand of charity, but, on the morning of 
the third day, he arose Monarch of all his omniscient 
eye could survey. He looked abroad, into infinite space, 
compassed in his thoughts the vast regions of a bound- 
less universe, filled with the glories and crowned with the 
monuments of his own creative power, and called it all 
his own. He slept in the tomb of Joseph the humiliating 
sleep of death ; but he awoke, in his exaltation, King of 
kings, to receive the devout homage and adoration of a 
ransomed world. But if we would climb to the height 
of the King's exaltation, we must measure the distance 
from the cross of Calvary to his throne in glory. If we 
would contrast faithfully his exaltation with his humilia- 



THE FOUNTAIN OF INFINITE GOODNESS. 89 

tion, we must follow him from earth to heaven. And if 
we would view successfully both the humanity and divin- 
ity of the King of Glory, we must see him in all the im- 
portant events between his cradle and his crown. 

The infinite goodness of the King proves his divinity. 
Nothing absolutely good can be found in a mere man : 
there is no good in him. But Christ is the origin of all 
that is crood in the world. He is of all real orood the 
Bountiful Giver. The wicked may strive to be good, 
but of themselves they can do nothing. They may surge 
against the billows manfully, but they can never raise 
their drooping heads above the wide and wasting waves 
of death, which roll in fury over the troubled sea of sin. 
Their only hope of rescue is to be found in a Divine Hand. 
To the King may be traced, through the progress of the 
ages, all the ameliorating influences brought to bear 
upon suffering and sorrowing humanity. Every good, 
obtainable by our fallen race, is centered in the life-work 
or death-agonies of Jesus of Nazareth. Humanity was 
surging in vain amid the storms of sin, w T hile divine 
justice, like a great barrier, closed every avenue to the 
city of refuge, and clashed to pieces every fond and 
cherished hope of happiness. Burdened souls were 
driven by the resistless tide of guilt against the in- 
vulnerable laws of God, which guarded the eates of 
heaven. But at last a rent was opened in the mighty 
barrier, through the victory of the cross, and a narrow 
pathway led humanity to the great Fountain of all Good. 

The King's goodness was not without its visible mani- 
festations in his eventful life. He fed the destitute 
thousands, but suffered himself the pangs of hunger. 
He administered consolation to those in deepest distress, 



90 THE FRIEND OF ALL CLASSES. 

while he was preeminently the Man of Sorrows. He 
cast devils out of many, yet was himself sorely tempted 
of Satan. He lifted the burden of sin from the souls of 
others, while bearing in his own body the sins of the 
world. He raised many from the dead, and yet he sub- 
mitted to the pangs and agonies of the most shameful 
and cruel of all deaths. He went about constantly, 
doing all manner of good both to the souls and bodies of 
men. 

The King was most emphatically the Friend of all 
classes of sinners. He was equally ready to bestow 
good upon the rich, who were courted and envied 
on account of their abundant wealth, and the poor, who 
were despised and oppressed because of their extreme 
poverty. He visited alike the princely mansion of the 
aristocratic Pharisee and the humble cottage of the hated 
publican. He cordially tendered life to the rich young 
lawyer, and with equal courtesy touched and healed the 
outcast leper. No matter where he went, the multitude 
of impotent, lame, maim, halt and blind crowded the 
pathway of the Healer and Helper, hoping to attract 
his attention, and receive his blessings. Goodness was 
perfectly natural with the Saviour. He could not refrain 
from pitying the poor, and nourishing the needy. The 
object of his great mission into this sin-stricken world 
was to do good — to bring joy to the living and life to the 
dead. Only let us follow lovingly this Good Shepherd, 
of humanity, through the days of peace and prosperity, 
and he will tenderly lead us through the dark nights of 
sorrow and adversity. Let us gladly walk with him in 
the sunshine of life, and he will surely accompany us 
through the shades and shadows of death. 



THE KING S MATCHLESS LOVE. 9 1 

The matchless love of the King also attests his divin- 
ity. He loved as no mere human being ever did, or 
ever will love. His whole soul ran out in deepest solic- 
itude, after the objects of his affections. His great 
heart was constantly burdened, with the intense anxiety 
he felt for the subjects of his compassionate love. 
Jesus loved a world, steeped in sin and saturated with 
crime, far better than that world, ransomed from death 
with his own blood, has ever loved him in return. This 
divine love, which the King brought from heaven to 
earth, is deep enough to fathom the infinite ocean of 
human grief. It has a height, but no top ; a depth, but 
no bottom, and a length and breadth, but no dimen- 
sions. It is broad enough to embrace in its arms of 
affection all classes and conditions of humanity. The 
King's loving heart felt a weight of untold anguish, in- 
finitely heavier than any burden of sorrow ever borne by 
mere human hearts. The great flood of human woe, 
rushing down the ages, rolled its mighty burden of 
grief upon the Man of Sorrows. Humanity, in its weak- 
ness, was naturally too strong for Divinity, in its om- 
nipotence. The infinite love of Jesus forced him to 
stoop down and bless mankind, in its wretchedness. 
Human sympathy indeed is precious, but the grief of 
our poor hearts often demand just such compassionate 
love as the Divine One alone can bestow upon us. 
For, there is no cure for the greatest sorrows of life, 
save that which the infinite love of Jesus brings to the 
bleeding heart. Divine compassion is infinitely deeper 
than human woes, and with such help, as it can bring, 
our heaviest burdens are easily borne. Such compas- 
sion and such grief are genial companions here. Like 



92 THE WORLD A GREAT LAZAR-HOUSE. 

two kindred spirits, they walk, hand in hand, through 
this life, but they part forever at the Jordan of death. 

The world was one great lazar-house. Reason was 
blinded; conscience was paralyzed; passion raging with 
delirium; hope trembling with feebleness, and faith sink- 
ing in unbelief when the King of Glory brought strength 
to the feeble, courage to the fainting and victory to the 
dying soul, through the manifestations of his infinite 
love for the world. This wonderful love is the true 
foundation upon which the sacred story of the cross re- 
poses in perfect security. Here is the central figure of 
Christianity, which the feeble efforts of infidelity, in its 
varied forms and phases, can never move from its moor- 
ings. Such divine love, with its bounties, should not 
be slighted by human hatred, with all its wants and 
woes. Our gratitude to the King should only be meas- 
ured by this infinite love, which has a hold upon the 
heart of the world that can never be severed. 

The fearless fortitude of the King bears testimony in 
favor of his divinity. His was not a heedless spirit, 
nor the reckless daring of one who rejoices in danger. 
But it was cool, calculating heroism, such as the world 
had never known before. In the King, all the virtues 
and graces were perfectly developed. He was calm, 
meek, gentle, harmless and docile as the lamb. But at 
the same time, he had moral courage, fortitude and 
daring sufficient for the conquest of the world. He was 
bold enough to meet, and powerful enough to over- 
come every enemy. The King knew no fear. He 
could not falter. He had the courage of a lion. He 
walked fearless and alone over the wild wastes, and 
through the sore temptations of the desert. He stood 



THE CONFLICT WAS HIS OWN. 93 

calm and serene before kings, who trembled in his pres- 
ence. And when the dark counsels of the rulers were 
complete, and they mustered courage to summon him 
before their tribunals of injustice, he hesitated not to 
meet them face to face. More than once he had antici- 
pated death, with its gathering storms of sin and sor- 
row. He knew full well that every step brought him 
that much nearer the rugged cross of Calvary. But he 
held on his way without wavering. He only needed to 
commune awhile with heaven, in order to gird up his 
soul for the mock trial, sore scourging and crowning 
agonies of the cross, and the spirit had soon gained the 
ascendancy over the flesh. Jesus knew that the awful 
conflict was his own — that he must tread the wine-press 
of this fearful agony alone. For there were none to 
hold his hand, or strengthen his heart as he passed 
through the critical crisis. He was perfectly conscious 
of the fact that his own right hand, and his holy arm 
must bring him the victory. For he knew that, in the 
hour, and during the power of darkness, he would be 
deserted by his disciples, and forsaken by his God. 
But still his fortitude failed not. For, when the ap- 
pointed time arrived, he met his fearful fate with the 
daring of a great Moral Hero in the" strife of battle. 
His heroism was divine. 

The heavenly majesty of the King is also a strong 
evidence in favor of his divinity. There was too much 
of heaven about him to be all of earth. Celestial maj- 
esty sat enthroned upon his gentle brow. The heav- 
enly shades of his features, blended with the earthly 
but to deepen, and enrich them. The divine nature was 
so woven into the human as to give him, in all his meek- 



94 THE KING S ROYAL CHARACTER. 

ness and humility, a majestic bearing without a parallel 
in the archives of history. 

The perfect character of the King furnishes another 
argument in favor of his divinity. Jesus presented the 
world with a character admitted by the most eminent 
enemies of the Cross to be the greatest that ever ex- 
isted either in fact or fiction. No other character, 
whether real or ideal, approaches, even approximately, 
the grandeur of the King's royal character. And it is 
most remarkable that this sublime character evoked 
alike the admiration of the simple and the wise, and 
speaks alike powerfully to the higher affections of both 
the good and the bad. This great moral character in 
its highest perfection has for the lowest mind, in its 
infinite condescension and solicitude, a charm by which 
he may be led to imitate the Saviour's royal example. 
But the author of this character claimed to be divine ; 
and he was either all he claimed to be, and what proph- 
ecy and history represent him as being, or his charac- 
ter, even for truthfulness, stands impeached, and the 
whole fabric of Christianity is overthrown. This exalted 
character can only be accounted for on the theory of his 
divinity. 

The King's perfect knowledge of men gives us an- 
other plea in favor of his divinity. Jesus mastered hu- 
man nature. He knew man perfectly, and needed not 
the testimony of any concerning him. We may im- 
agine there was something penetrating in his soft brown 
eye, that touched it with the brightness of poetic inspi- 
ration. One glance from that all-seeing eye of the Di- 
vine Prophet laid bare the inmost recesses, and revealed 
all the secret thoughts of the soul. He saw and knew 



THE KING S MORAL ELEVATION. 95 

men as they could not see and know themselves. He 
not only read the hidden purposes of their hearts, but 
also understood full well the fearful consequences of 
their lives in all their varied and, to them, uncertain re- 
sults. He still has a perfect knowledge of all men. 
The scenes which gild the past pleasures of the sinner, 
but deepen the dismal shadows of his present sorrows, 
and darken the impenetrable gloom of his eternal des- 
tiny, are all spread out before the omniscient vision of 
the King of Glory. 

The moral elevation of the King speaks loudly in fa- 
vor of his divinity. Aside from the Jewish nation, an- 
tiquity had no just conception of moral evil. With them 
an action was either guiltless, irresistible, or else Deity 
was responsible for its consequences. Neither priests 
nor people had any aim or desire, in their sacrifices and 
oblations, beyond the removal of physical defilement. 
There was, to them, a magical effect in propitiatory rites, 
though they did not change, even the inclination of their 
wills, from evil. But Jesus reached a moral elevation 
far above that of his a^e and surroundings. His code 

o o 

of morals constituted a system of the highest conceiva- 
ble elevation, and was applicable alike to all classes and 
conditions of humanity. His teachings were marked 
by a moral tone so far above his own, or any other age, 
as to place them at once far beyond the reach of man's 
invention. The estimate which Jesus placed upon mere 
ritualistic worship, in an age when rites and ceremonies 
with many even of his own nation, constituted the sum 
total of religion, proved him to be the great Spiritual 
Head of the Levitical Priesthood. And the sagacity 
with which he looked into, and opened up the mysteries 



g6 the son's equality with the father. 

of the future, showed him to be the greatest of all the 
prophets, with more than ordinary inspiration. Divine 
redemption, by a Divine Redeemer, is already the key- 
note to our holy religion, and its future developments 
will be the wonder of the world. This glorious strain 
will break out erelong in living music from multiplied 
millions of regenerated souls, and the grand chorus 
shall shake the earth with the sweet hallelujahs of time, 
and rend the heavens with the loud hosannas of eternity. 

The King's claims to equality with the Father ought 
to settle, at once and forever, the question of his divin- 
ity. For, if equal to the Deity, then to him belonged 
the infinite perfections of* all the divine attributes. Like 
the Father, he must have possessed a wisdom omniscient, 
a power almighty, a presence universal, a holiness im- 
maculate, a goodness overshadowing all, a justice with- 
out respect to persons, a truth firmer than the founda- 
tions of the everlasting hills, a mercy reaching even the 
rebellious and a love embracing all mankind. All the 
infinite attributes of Deity clustered around the pathway 
of Jesus, like so many burnished orbs, encircling the sun 
in his brilliant career through the heavens: therefore he 
must have been divine. 

The calmness and dignity of the King, in the pres- 
ence of earth's dignitaries, proved him to be infinitely 
above all who were in authority. The exact fulfillment 
of prophecy, in the person of the Humble Nazarene, 
bore sacred testimony to the justice of his claims to the 
Messiahship. The authority by which he forgave sins, 
and wrought many miracles, showed him to be more than 
a mere man. The claims he made, upon his subjects, 
recognized the King's inherent worthiness of their un- 



MANY PROOFS OF HIS DIVINITY. 97 

bounded homage and adoration. The annulling of old, 
and the enunciation of new precepts and principles, 
pervaded by the deepest spirituality, attested his divinity. 
The song of angels, the voice of the Father, and a 
thousand other things proclaimed his Immaculate Son- 
ship. The King spoke as a God, and his matchless 
voice gave no uncertain sound. Many of the sayings 
of Jesus would have been sheer presumption, if uttered 
by a man devoid of all consciousness of indwelling divin- 
ity. Yea, more ! It would have been arrogance, incon- 
sistent with either humility or holiness, for any mere 
human being to assume such prerogatives as Jesus took 
to himself. But the matchless victories of his perfect 
life, and the immortal trophies of his sacrificial death, 
award him the honor of divine prerogatives. Go to the 
cross, if you desire farther evidence of the King's divin- 
ity. The darkened heavens, the quaking earth, the 
rending rocks, and the rising dead, all bear sacred testi- 
mony to this grand truth, which men presumptuously 
deny. Here the King seals all his claims to the Mes- 
siahship, with the overwhelming testimony of his own 
bloody agonies, upon the cross. His double mode of 
speaking of himself proved his two-fold nature, just as 
its analogy in us proves that we are both mortal and 
immortal. But some acknowledge, that he was almost 
a God ; and yet say, after all, he was only a mere man. 
Whatever falls short of infinity, falls infinitely short of 
Deity. The King was either divine, or else he was in- 
finitely below Divinity. He proves himself to be infi- 
nitely above humanity, by speaking so far in advance of 
all ages ; and therefore he must be divine. But his 

church stands to-day, in the center of all history, upon 
7 



98 THE POTENCY OF HIS RELIGION. 

the Rock of Ages, triumphantly proclaiming his divinity. 
And all the false theories, with reference to his super- 
human character, and superior moral excellence, which 
would rob him of his divine glory, crumble and fall be- 
fore these sublime revelations from heaven. 

The religion, inaugurated by the King, proves his 
divinity. The divine origin of his holy religion need no 
longer be called in question, since its own intrinsic value, 
as well as its external glory, is being manifested every- 
where in the lives and labors of its ardent devotees. 
Every page of ecclesiastical history is a sacred witness 
to the simplicity and fidelity with which this holy religion 
has enthroned itself in the hearts, and held its sway in 
the lives of the King's followers. It exerts a controlling 
influence over its subjects. It beautifies our speech, 
with truth and purity; adorns our deportment, with 
courtesy and refinement ; clothes our persons, with grace 
and culture, and fills our homes, with peace and plenty. 
It lifts us up, when we will be lifted by it, to the per- 
fection of beauty, and the grandeur of holiness. It en- 
ables us to keep our desires, appetites and passions, 
all in willing subjection to the laws of purity, truth and 
love. In fact, this religion of the cross has already 
worked wonders in the world. It has curbed human 
passion, checked inhuman cruelty and branded, as in- 
famous, beastly suicide. It has, to some degree, rem- 
edied the wrongs of all classes of humanity, and amel- 
iorated the sufferings of the whole race of mankind. 
It has protected the captive, rescued the gladiator and 
freed the slave. It has fed the orphan, sheltered the 
poor and nursed the sick. It has also elevated woman- 
hood, purified manhood and crowned the tender years 



LIKE ITS DIVINE AUTHOR. 99 

of childhood-life with a halo of sacred innocence. This 
holy religion is still clad with all its heaven-born fresh- 
ness and glory. Time can never whiten its locks, palsy 
its hands, or diminish its power. It is, like its author, 
divine, and hence destined to live on, in immortal youth, 
forever. 

No religion has a simpler form of worship, a more 
sublime code of morals or grander truths to sustain it, 
than the religion of the cross. The Jewish system had 
become extremely burdensome to the conscientious, and 
a most fruitful source of hypocrisy to the mischievous 
masses. The Rabbis, by their unique expansions and 
artificial interpretations, had converted their religion into 
a life-Ion^ servitude. And the scribes and Pharisees, 
with their senseless traditions and cold formalities, had 
poisoned the purest principles of its morality, and 
deadened the strongest pulsations of its spiritual life. 
But Jesus expanded this dwarfed religion of the Jews 
into a catholic religion for the whole world. His religion 

o o 

is absolutely free from everything of a narrowly con- 
tracted, or selfish character. It is that much like its 
Divine Author. He was a Jew, but loved even the 
Samaritans. He was of the seed of Abraham, but em- 
braced, in the arms of his affections, all mankind as a 
common brotherhood. He regarded with tender solici- 
tude and deepest emotion the descendants of Jacob, but 
loved no less devotedly the poor Gentile publicans and 
sinners. When Israel's ideal of a religious life was 
realized, only in the man who withdrew from society, 
and buried himself in the ascetic caverns of the moun- 
tains, or lost himself in the deepest solitudes of the 
deserts, Jesus brought his religion into the very homes, 



IOO A POWER FOR GOOD. 

hearts and lives of men. For the penance and solitude 
of the hermit, he substitutes the benevolence and sun- 
shine of the active laborer in his moral vineyard. He 
gave no sanction to the celibacy of the ascetic, or to the 
monastic life of the monk. His religion is designed to 
give a sunny face and a warm heart to its devotees. 
Heaven will lavish her blessings and honors upon all its 
faithful advocates. 

The religion of the cross has wielded a greater in- 
fluence for good in human hearts, and exerted a mightier 
power over the mind of humanity than all the other 
religions of the world combined. Take as an example 
modern Spiritualism with its boasted wonders, and what 
has it done for fallen humanity? Who has it made 
better or wiser by its marvelous disclosures ? With all 
its alleged powers of penetrating into the secrets of the 
unseen world, it has made no man either holier or hap- 
pier. It is a miserable failure, and its most ardent 
votaries are perfectly conscious of the fact. And just so 
it is with Mormonism, Mohammedanism, and a score of 
other isms, which we might mention. But the religion 
of Jesus Christ is an acknowledged power for good in 
the world. He placed it upon a sure foundation. The 
principles it inculcates are fundamental. They look both 
to our happiness here, and to our eternal happiness here- 
after. They are also practical. They fulfill the whole 
law of God. They make a want of power, the only 
limitation of obedience to God. The true ideal of this 
genuine religion reflects, with its pure and all-embracing 
love, the very image of its Divine Author, and hence 
bears the seal and sanction of heaven. 

Prior to the King's advent individuality was either un- 



REASON WAS POWERLESS. IOI 

known, or much restricted in its sphere of action. Con- 
science had almost no liberty at all. Whatever the 
State regarded as expedient must be done. Men 
could not act untrammeled, even in private or social 
affairs, much less in moral or religious matters. The 
will, of the Governor was everything, while the wishes 
of the individual subject were mere ciphers. But the 
religion of Jesus inaugurated both a social and moral 
reformation, which have swept over the nations of the 
earth, giving force to individuality, and freedom to the 
human conscience. 

At the King's coming, reason was powerless. Her 
dominion had been lost. Her frail barriers had been 
swept away, by the surging tides of guilt. The religion 
of the cross must supersede philosophy and moral eth- 
ics, or the world is lost. The merciful mission of the 
Messiah w T as her only hope. Many of the King's virt- 
ues have survived his death. They have been trans- 
mitted, through his followers, to succeeding generations, 
until they have done much in reclaiming, and shaping 
the world's destiny. The King's counsels have been 
embalmed for ages, in the memories of his disciples. 
They have exerted a controlling influence over their 
lives of consecrated devotion to the Master. There was 
something in the personal character of the King, that 
produced a wonderful admiration for him in the hearts 
of all his subjects. There have been martyrs to all 
religious creeds. But no other religion ever marshaled 
such an army of martyrs, who were willing to die be- 
cause of the personal love they bore the founder of 
their religious faith. But this feeling has always char- 
acterized the martyrs of Christianity. 



102 RELIGION A DIVINE REALITY. 

Before the Christian era, war was constantly being 
waged. Might was everywhere recognized as right. 
The stronger oppressed most cruelly the weaker. But 
the peace-speaking voice of this holy religion has 
echoed, along down through the passing centuries, until 
war is no longer the rule, but the exception among 
Christian nations. Queen Charity has been placed upon 
the throne, her brow encircled with all the Christian 
graces, and her life adorned with all the nameless virt- 
ues of Christianity. Now right is in the ascendency; 
controls might, and shields the helpless from the op- 
pressor. Antiquity had her poor as well as her rich. 
There were herds of paupers, in all her borders ; and 
crowds of beggars, in all her streets, and on all her 
highways. But it was reserved for the religion of Jesus 
to found asylums of charity for the poor and unfortun- 
ate, and hospitals of mercy for the sick, and suffering 
of earth. 

Then the religion of Jesus is not an imaginary, or 
powerless something. It is not merely a religion of 
notions, visions and ecstacies, but a devine reality. It 
is a presence to be realized; a lesson to be studied, and 
a power to be felt in the hearts, and exhibited in the lives 
of men. It is no weird, romantic legend or cunningly 
devised fable ; but a divine force, that molds character, 
renews life and saves souls. It is a religion, which has 
driven ignorance and superstition from millions of dark 
homes, and filled them with the light of its own joy and 
gladness. It is a religion, which has influenced men, 
whose lips were once loud with cursing, and whose 
hearts were once black with blasphemy, to sing in 
praise, and plead in prayer the name of its Divine 



THE WORLD A LIFELESS WASTE. IO3 

Author. Neither is it a religion destitute of sentiment, 
feeling- or emotion ; for these are quite as essential to 
acceptable service, as taste, reason or conscience. 

Sin, like a besom of destruction, had swept over the 
earth, with the chill of death in its blast. The dark 
waves of pollution, and the blood-stained billows of crime 
had dashed, in fury and violence, for four thousand years 
against the citadels of justice and truth. Ruin and deso- 
lation marked the ravages of sin. It had left many a 
shipwrecked mariner stranded upon the shores of time. 
The world, under its reign, had become almost a lifeless 
waste. Its great heart was beating in fear, and strug- 
gling in peril, while its life-currents were dashing madly, 
amid the fires of passion, against the dark shores of 
eternity. In this world, subdued by Satan and saturated 
with sin, want and woe were gloomy guests, and vice 
and misery their constant companions. But when the 
religion of the cross poured its rays of divine light upon 
the surrounding darkness, the prison of despair was 
transformed into a garden of paradise, dens of iniquity 
converted into sanctuaries of praise and this demonized 
world made, once more, the abode of peace and the 
vestibule of heaven. How can we question the divine 
reality of a religion which displays such wonderful 
power, in its onward march for the conquest of this sin- 
cursed world ? 

Certainly there is matchless power, and great grace 
in the religion of the cross. It imparts an inspiration to 
its devotees, otherwise unknown to humanity. It fires 
our hearts with zeal, fills our souls with energy and 
prepares us to meet death with the firmest faith, and 
most fearless fortitude. It changes death, from a ven- 



104 A DEATH-BED SCENE. 

omous serpent to a veiled angel ; from a dreaded demon 
to a welcome messenger ; from the greatest possible 
calamity to eternal gain. Hence, history records many 
instances of Christian resignation and courage, in the 
dying hour, without parallels in the archives of heathen 
lands. But it seems strange that the dying never 
weep. Perhaps the tears of the doomed are lost in de- 
spair, while the weeping of the saved is turned into joy, 
at the first glimpse of the eternal world. At any rate, 
this divine religion must impart great comfort in the 
hour of death. The Christian is pillowed upon a dying 
bed. His physician assures him that his moments are 
almost numbered — that he soon must die. His mind is 
clear, his heart is glad and his soul is happy. Perfectly 
calm and serene is his joyous spirit. No tear-drop dims 
his aged eye. No murmur falls from his faltering 
tongue. No word of doubt escapes his parched lips. 
Sweetest resignation plays upon every feature of his 
wrinkled brow. Heavenly hope speaks out in every 
expression of his glowing countenance. He has lost 
sight of earth. He gazes with infinite delight into 
heaven. The sting of death is gone — lost in the enrap- 
tured visions of life. He has fought all life's battles, 
and won its last great victory. He has reached, at last, 
the lovely Land of Bulah ; and his happy soul is floating 
out upon a boundless sea of glory. A bright convoy 
of angels are coming, on swift wings, to escort him home 
to heaven. The last word has been spoken. The last 
breath is being drawn. He is gone. Happy moment ! 
Victorious death! He passes out most joyfully, mounts 
the ascending chariot, a congenial companion for an- 
gels, and takes up that most delightful of all journeys — 



WELCOMED TO THE LAND OF BULAH. I05 

the swift transit from earth to heaven. They soon rise 
above the splendors of the first and second heavens. 
They speed on over the fields of light toward the New 
Jerusalem. Now they enter the Heaven of heavens, 
and all its matchless glories burst full on his enraptured 
vision. Legions of angels and archangels, seraphim 
and cherubim, greet him with their warmest congratula- 
tions. Departed friends strike glad hands with him, 
and bid him more than welcome to the Land of the 
Blessed. Dear loved ones clasp him in their fond em- 
braces, with all the raptures of heavenly love. The King 
hails him eternally happy, and assigns him a home in the 
mansions of glory. Happy soul, eternally blessed ! 

Such are the evidences of his holy religion in support 
of the divinity of its Royal Author. In fact, the King's 
divinity constitutes the very essence of his religion. 
Therefore, it must be a divine reality, else this religion 
could not be a divine revelation. But this Divine King 
guides the tiny insect, which flits in the sunbeam, and 
supports the mighty archangel, whose brilliant wings 
illuminate the heavens, in his rapid flight. This King 
of Glory directs the atom of air in the whirlwind and 
controls the burnine comet as it doubles heaven's wide 
cape and returns to the earth, after the long lapse of 
circling centuries. Who can longer doubt his divinity ? 



THE TITLES OF THE KING. 



Chapter VI. 



/ know not to give flattering titles. — Job 32 : 22. 



There are two hundred and one different names and 
titles, by which the King is designated in the Holy 
Bible. We can only notice a few of the more important 
of these sacred appellations in this chapter. 

The enemies of the King called him, in derision, the 
Friend of Sinners. No more precious, or appropriate 
title could have been given him. We are all sinners ; 
and should be happy to know that Jesus is our dearest 
and best Friend. His merciful mission, to earth, was in 
the interest of sinners. The burdens of his life were all 
borne for sinners. The agonies of his death were all 
endured for sinners. Then truly, Jesus was the Friend 
of Sinners. He pities the poor helpless sinner, but 
hates sin with an eternal hatred. He died that the 
guilty, condemned sinner might live ; but he can not re- 
gard the enormity of his sin with indifference, not even 
with the least degree of allowance. 

The King is a Friend indeed, because a Friend in 
need. Sinners are all in need of salvation. They ought 
to be rescued from the power and dominion of sin. 
Jesus is able, and willing to accomplish this work. He 

only waits an expression, which indicates a sincere de- 

(106) 



THE FRIEND OF SINNERS. IO7 

sire to be saved, upon the sinner's part. His divine 
power stands pledged to assist human weakness, at any 
and all times, in liberating itself from the bondage and 
thraldom of sin. But the feeble must seek the aid of, and 
cooperate with the Mighty, before the sin-fettered soul 
can be set at liberty ; and the sinner be made a saint. 
The King's almighty power, and infinite mercy must 
wait for the consent of finite minds, and the reception of 
human hearts, before light can banish darkness, and life 
reign over the subdued dominion of death. Human 
faith must reach forth and take hold of Divine Might ; 
the trembling hand must be laid in the Omnipotent 
Grasp; the dying sinner must be delivered over to the 
Living Lord, before the prison doors of sin can be 
thrown open, and the captive soul be set at perfect lib- 
erty. The human and Divine must ever cooperate, in 
this great work of saving sinners. 

The King is a Friend, who brings help to the friend- 
less. He is the Soul-seeker, who follows hard in the 
foot-prints of the lost and ruined sinner. But, with all 
the manifestations of his unsought friendship and deep 
solicitude, the sinner often hesitates, falters, draws back 
and stays the Arm of infinite power, outstretched for his 
own rescue from eternal death. The gentle voice of 
Jesus only, can break the deep slumber of those who 
are sleeping the sleep of sin, and who fain would sleep 
on, even until death, were it not for the timely warning 
of this, ever Watchful Friend. But human faith must 
prepare the way for Divine Work, and human effort fol- 
low up the victories gained by Divine Power, in bring- 
ing the wandering- soul back to God. Many of the 
brightest exponents of our holy religion have been men, 



IOS THE SUBSTITUTE FOR SINNERS. 

who walked with this Friend of Sinners, amid sorrows, 
sufferings and sacrifices, searching for the loved and 
lost of earth. 

But this best of all friends voluntarily became the sub- 
stitute for sinners. He gave his own life-blood freely to 
quench the fires of guilt, burning in the sin-sick souls of 
suffering humanity. But this Great Sacrifice fails to 
win the hearts of many prodigal sons and daughters. 
They go on heedless and heartless with a sinning, sor- 
rowing, dying world, while this warm-hearted, Sympa- 
thetic Friend is ever tendering them, in his own pre- 
cious name, happiness here, and heaven hereafter. But 
if sinners sometimes seem determined to go on to 
endless destruction, we ought to make the way as hard 
as possible for them to travel. We should hold the 
cross of Calvary up constantly before their eyes; throw 
the mangled and bleeding body of the Friend of Sinners 
incessantly at their feet, and sprinkle their unhallowed 
pathways, all along through life, with the precious blood 
of Jesus. 

Malachi speaks of the Messiah as the Messenger of 
the Covenant. Glorious messenger of a most precious 
covenant ! Covenant, after covenant, had been given 
to the world. They paved the way for this new cove- 
nant of grace, which was to be established upon better 
promises, and milder propositions. These covenants 
were often broken, and trampled under foot. The race 
had wandered far from God. The world had lost her 
love for truth, and her hope of holiness. Her saints 
were without sanctity ; her heroes without honor, and 
her poor without protection. Her power was fast wan- 
ing, with the loss of faith ; for her wisest men were deny- 



THE MESSENGER OF THE COVENANT. IO9 

ing facts, and following fables. The tombs and temples 
of Egypt, the philosophy of Greece, the splendors and 
luxuries of Babylon, with the golden eagles and conquer- 
ing legions of Rome, could never restore her departed 
power, or bring back her wonted glory. She must wait 
the coming of the Messenger of Mercy. The ushering 
in of glad tidings to the world, must be reserved for the 
Messenger of the new Covenant of grace. The honor 
of lighting up the dark world, with the joys of a golden 
age, must be awarded to One mightier in power, and 
surpassing in glory all the great and good of earth. 

The Heavenly Messenger came at last, with his won- 
derful message of salvation by grace ; opened a door of 
hope to those, who were driven to the very verge of 
despair, and directed all wanderers to the Fountain of 
Living-waters, and the Highway of Holiness, leading up 
to heaven and to God. The calm, sweet voice of the 
Merciful Messenger sounds out, over the troubled ocean 
of life, and his hopeful words quell the fears of all hearts, 
and lead the multitudes on, through the drifting clouds 
of doubt and despondency, into the light and liberty 
of a living faith in Jesus. The stream of time is still 
coursing its way down through the centuries, and as the 
currents of human life ebb and flow upon its shores, 
many watchmen upon the walls of Zion, by the authority 
of the Messenger of the Covenant, are still inviting 
dying men and women everywhere to pass in at the 
open gate of mercy, and walk the golden-paved streets 
of the New Jerusalem. 

Paul called the King, the Mediator of the New Tes- 
tament. The New Testament is simply the King's will, 
more fully revealed to men than ever before. To give 



IIO THE SUCCESSFUL MEDIATOR. 

this Testament legal force, the Testator died, and dedi- 
cated it with his own precious blood. This clothed it 
with unquestionable validity. It was through this New 
Testament, or perfectly revealed will, that the Merciful 
Mediator hoped to effect a reconciliation between God 
and man. Hence, he is very properly called the Medi- 
ator of the New Testament. The King virtually en- 
tered upon the administration of his mediatorial functions, 
as soon as sin made its entrance into the world. His 
divine appointment to this work, had been made, and 
ratified in the eternal counsels of heaven, long before 
the fall, or creation of man. But it was under this New 
Testament that he made his sacrificial offering for the 
sins of the world. 

In order to be a Successful Mediator, it was necessary 
that the King be identified with the interests of both 
parties, and share alike, the confidence of both man and 
God. Hence he became a God-man, intimately related 
to both the offending, and offended parties. In this 
mysterious relationship to God and man, he came as a 
Powerful Mediator. The listening, longing world was 
looking for a Mighty Monarch, with the march of armies, 
and the casting down of thrones, but the Mediator of 
the New Testament came, like the rising sun, in silence, 
but with great power, and unparalleled glory. His 
grand mission is destined to become the song of all 
nations ; and the ultimate glory of his mediatorial work 
will fill the Heaven of heavens, with the voices of his 
endless praise. 

The King's mediatorial work will not close, until the 
last sinner is reconciled to God, or else banished forever 
from his peaceful presence. For the time is coming, 



THE GOOD SHEPHERD. I I I 

when this Wonderful Mediator shall have hushed every 
discordant note in the world. Then all voices will be 
blended, in perfect harmony with the Voice of Heaven : 
and every spirit of man, beat in sweetest unison with 
the one great Spirit of God. The human race needed 
an Influential Mediator — one who could plead its cause, 
bear its sins and save its souls. None but the Eternal 
King- could be that Almighty Advocate, that Sinless 
Saviour, that Matchless Mediator of the New Testa- 
ment. 

John speaks of the King as the Good Shepherd of 
the sheep. In fact, they are the King's own words. 
Jesus said, I am the Good Shepherd, and give unto my 
sheep eternal life. With an allegorical parable, he set 
before the authorities of Israel the distinguishing charac- 
teristics of true and false teachers. In this apologue, 
they could but see themselves as hirelings, false and 
treacherous, and Jesus as the Good Shepherd, of both 
Jews and Gentiles, who would prove true and faithful 
even unto death. 

This precious title places the King in one of his most 
endearing relations to man. It is most expressive of 
his deep solicitude, and tender watch-care over the help- 
less and hopeless ones of his flock. Love has no better 
emblem, than that which is found in this sacred title. 
And it would be well for us to remember, that the Good 
Shepherd is no mere hireling, but the Owner of the 
flock ; and therefore One, who feels a special, personal 
interest in the well-being of every member thereof. 
There is also much comfort in the assurance, that this 
Good Shepherd is perfectly familiar with all his flock, 
insomuch that he can call each sheep, large or small, 



112 NINETY AND NINE. 

by its own name, and anticipate its every want, in the 
hour of darkness, danger or death. The Good Shep- 
herd knows his own, if found at the dead hour of mid- 
night, upon the bleak and barren mountains of sin, far 
away from the sheltered fold. He speaks, and his gentle 
voice is recognized by the wandering one. For he is 
also known of his. He restores the soul, brings back 
the wanderer, and keeps, until the day of eternal re- 
demption, all whom the Father hath given him. 

"There were ninety and nine, that safely lay- 
In the shelter of the fold; 
But one, bare one, had wandered away, 
Far off from the gates of gold. 
Out in the desert, he heard its cry, 
Sick and helpless, and ready to die — 
Away on the mountains wild and bare, 
Away from the tender Shepherd's care; 
But all through the mountains, thunder riven, 
And up from the rocky steep, 
There rose a cry to gates of heaven • 
Rejoice, I have found my sheep; 
And angels echoed around the throne, 
Rejoice, for , the Lord brings back his own." 

The King is represented, as humanity's most Skill- 
ful Physician. Our hearts are by nature diseased ; and 
our souls are sick even unto death. From the soles of 
our feet, even to the crowns of our heads, there is no 
soundness in us ; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefy- 
ing sores, which have not been closed, neither bound up, 
nor mollified with ointment. Sin had transformed our 
beautiful world into a great moral lazar-house, and 
filled it with inmates the most degraded and loathsome. 
We can not refrain from stigmatizing it, as the deadly 



THE HEAVENLY PHYSICIAN. 113 

upas-tree of the world, which has thrown its withering, 
blasting, blackening, damning shadows over all kindred, 
people and tongues of earth, until the world traveleth 
in pain, even till now, and her sons and daughters, ev- 
erywhere, are groaning under a burden of guilt and 
miser)', the dire legacy to us, by sin bequeathed. But 
the Great Physician has the never-failing antidote for 
sin — the healing balm for the sin-sick soul — the elixir 
of life for sinning and dying humanity. He is the Lamb 
of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This 
leprosy of sin, like the fatal cancer, eats its way, living 
and growing on what it consumes and destroys. But 
our Heavenly Physician is perfectly familiar with this 
loathsome disease of the soul. He carries with him its 
only remedy. He opens the heart by his Spirit, puri- 
fies the soul with his own precious blood, and imparts 
life to the sinner, as the eternal gift of God. 

We all need the services of this Skillful Physician ev- 
ery clay, and every hour we live. We are always in 
clanger. In the midst of life, we stand, side by side, 
with death. The partition which separates the two 
worlds is but a vapor. The transition from time to 
eternity is momentary. At all stages, and under all the 
varied circumstances of life, death, the solemn monitor, 
stands by our side ready to lay his icy grasp upon us, 
perchance without a moment's warning, and claim us as 
his own. The distance between us and this orim mon- 
ster, may be measured, at any time, with a single step. 
Life and death are inseparable companions on earth. 
They walk together, hand in hand, all the way through 
this sin-cursed world. We are not, as we sometimes 

imagine, simply traveling towards a fearful precipice, 
8 



114 THE WICKED AND THE WORLDLY. 

over which we will eventually fall into eternity. But we 
are walking upon its very brink, all the way through this 
uncertain life. Every point, in the path over which we 
are traveling, has proved fatal to some way-worn pilgrim 
of earth. And more than once, we have lost our foot- 
hold upon the sands of time, and trembled, for a moment, 
on the brink of eternity. Then, we can not afford to 
venture another step, without the presence of this Great 
Physician in whom we live and move and have our be- 
ing. For just where our lamp of life may grow dim, 
and pale, and fade from mortal sight, no one knows but 
God. 

There are times, when even the wicked and the 
worldly, the prayerless and profane feel their need of 
this Skillful Physician. It is in the wane of life, and the 
loss of earthly hope. It is when moral darkness en- 
shrouds the soul, and no ray of spiritual light penetrates 
the surrounding gloom. It is when the pains of hell 
get hold upon them, and the darkness darkens still. It 
is when they realize that the light of life is fast reced- 
ing, and, that darkness and death will soon be their 
doomed companions, for evermore. In these critical 
hours, there is nothing they so much desire, as spiritual 
life. Oh, that the Heavenly Physician would come, in 
the plenitude of his mercy ! Oh, that the light of an 
eternal day would dawn, upon the blackness of this my 
darkest night, that there might be night with me no 
more forever ! Far better is it with us, if the Great 
Physician always be a desired and welcome Guest, even 
when the heart is glad, and the cup of our earthly joy 
is full to overflowing. For then he will never forsake 
us, in the hour of affliction, or desert us in the time 



THE DIVINE LAWGIVER. II 5 

of our greatest need. This Skillful Physician can not 
only restore, and sustain spiritual life ; but he also has 
equal power over natural life and death. He holds the 
keys, which unlock, both the graves of earth, and the 
gates of heaven. He will make the dark portals of 
death, to all his penitent patients, the gateway to an 
endless and immortal life. 

Isaiah saw the King, as a Divine Lawgiver. The 
legal feature, in the plan of human redemption, is a very 
interesting and important one. Prior to the King's ad- 
vent, the law demanded justice; and nothing short of 
justice could meet, and satisfy its righteous claims. But 
when the Divine Lawgiver came, he represented us in 
the stern courts of justice, where he met, and satisfied 
all its claims upon humanity. He then introduced, into 
the great web of moral law, a stripe of equity, and formu- 
lated it in the golden rule, which he gave to the world. 
Justice required an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, 
and life for life. But equity, as introduced by Jesus, 
opened the way for the exercise of mercy. In fact, equity 
is an important element in the divine government. It is 
the pivot upon which our eternal destiny turned. For 
by the deeds of the law no flesh could be justified. 
However, equity is not in conflict with, but simply an 
enactment added to the divine law, by this Divine Law- 
giver. And this essential element, in the divine govern- 
ment, has since been also embodied in all the civil codes 
of the world. So that now, equity, in our courts of as- 
sizes, often secures our rights even in the absence of 
law, while justice meets out our claims, only in fulfillment 
of the law's requirements. Just so in the divine govern- 
ment. All the benefits of the law, secured to its devotees 



Il6 EQUITY THE LAW OF MERCY. 

under the old dispensation, upon the principles of jus- 
tice, and in consequence of obedience, are now bestowed 
upon us, in the absence of justice, upon the principles 
of equity, through faith in our most Merciful Lawgiver. 

Equity, in the divine government, is the law of mercy. 
The sun of justice sank behind the gloomy horizon of 
Golgotha, on the day of the crucifixion, and the sun of 
mercy rose in gladness, on the morning of the third day, 
to shed his first soft rays of light upon a ransomed world. 
The language of equity is, Mercy hath prevailed, there- 
fore let favor be shown to the wicked. 

Now burdened souls, with all their guilt, 

And all their weight of woe, 
May pardon, at the mercy-seat, 

Find every time they go. 

Mercy pleads long, and importunately with the im- 
penitent sinner. But she will not always plead in vain. 
She knows her appointed bounds, and there she will 
turn, on insulted wing, and kindle into a tempest of 
eternal vengeance to sink his sin-polluted soul to the 
lowest depth of endless perdition. 

The King, at his coming, assumed that judicial and 
legislative authority, previously exercised by others. No 
sinister motive could have induced him to decline the 
honor to rule, awarded him by the Father. His admin- 
istration has been perfectly equitable. He knows no 
partiality. He wrongs no one, that benefit thereby may 
accrue to another. His reign is unimpeachable. But 
to crown all culture, and develop the purest and noblest 
Christian character, man must heed the commandments, 
keep the precepts and walk in the statutes of love and 



A GREAT TEACHER FROM HEAVEN. I I J 

mercy, delivered to us by this Divine Lawgiver. This 
he can do, only through God's assisting grace. 

Nichodemus recognized the Kincr as a Great Teacher 
sent from heaven to instruct humanity in the way of life. 
The race was sitting in darkness, and in the shadow 
of death. Generation after generation, on their way to 
the tomb, had asked in vain for the way of life. The 
devotee had urged the inquiry, at the shrine of his idol 
god ; the priest had plead for light at his heathen altar ; 
and the ancient sage had repeated the cry, as he walked 
amid the works and wonders of creation : but no answer, 
not even an echo, returned to lighten their pathway, as 
they journeyed on, through the darkness, toward the 
regions of death. Ignorance, on this subject, was uni- 
versal and complete. It had settled down, like a pall, 
over the face of all lands. Darkness covered the earth, 
and gross darkness the minds of the people. All things 
proved the necessity of a Great Teacher, sent from God, 
to unfold the deep mysteries of life, and lift the hearts 
of men to a glorious and immortal destiny. 

At length this Great Teacher made his appearance, 
and threw a halo of light and glory over a world, wrapped 
in (doom, and shrouded in death. He came with lessons 

o 

of love, ladened with heavenly wisdom ; and all bore him 
witness, and marveled at the gracious words which pro- 
ceeded out of his mouth ; for they were spirit, and they 
were life. There was a grandeur in his maxims, and a 
wisdom in his words, such as the world had never known 
before. He was the world's Greatest Teacher. His 
instructions did more toward solving the great problems 
of human life, than all the teachings of earth's philoso- 
phers and sages combined. He was also unlike all 



Il8 RICH, RARE AND ROMANTIC. 

other teachers, a living illustration of the truths he 
taught. He exemplified every lesson he inculcated. 
He taught no less by example, than by precept. Men 
of the broadest intellectual culture, in all subsequent 
ages, have recognized in him the symbol of divine wis- 
dom, and the realized ideal of human perfection. 

This Great Teacher adopted a method of instruction, 
so rich, so rare, and yet so ^romantic, that thousands 
thronged to hear his wonderful words of wisdom ; and 
listened with the most intense interest and eagerness to 
his gracious lessons of life. His teachings were not, as 
some have insinuated, a mere eclectic system, borrowed 
from the religious sects and teachers of his day. He 
was most emphatically the Teacher of teachers. For, 
when he spoke, the wisest could not answer; neither 
could the bravest stand before his burning words of 
wisdom. He silenced alike the great and the small, the 
illiterate and the learned of earth. For his was not the 
culture of men, but the wisdom of God. His was the 
erudition of heaven, not of earth. He was truly a 
Wonderful Teacher. His grand lessons opened the 
gates of heaven so wide, at times, that men saw more 
of its glory in a single moment, than they had ever seen 
before in all their lives. And yet, in the trivial incidents 
of life, he often found the most forcible illustrations of 
moral truths. And, even in some of the innocent amuse- 
ments of his day, he saw the brightest and best symbols 
of spiritual life. 

But the devotees of a dead religion, crucified and em- 
balmed in its oral traditions, were illy prepared to receive 
and appreciate the divine originality, and heavenly unc- 
tion, with which the Spiritual Nazarene instructed them in 



ONE RELIGION FOR ALL RACES. I 1 9 

the ways of life and salvation. Their sages had no just 
conception of a religion adapted alike to the wants of all 
classes, and conditions of humanity. They claimed that 
the folly of his teachings were patent, in the fact that he 
sought to introduce one religion for all nations. They 
thought that the aristocracy of the world would never 
deign to stoop to a religion, in common with the lower 
castes of society. But the Great Teacher proclaimed 
the brotherhood of man, by revealing a common Father, 
and a similar destiny to the entire race. He taught the 
world many important truths. But, in the interest and 
sympathy, which he manifested for all classes, and con- 
ditions of humanity ; in the spirit of his bearing toward 
the noble, and the ignoble among men ; and above all, 
in his picture of the great judgment, where race and rank 
will be unknown, are imbedded some of the grandest 
lessons of his fruitful life. But all this glorious light was 
darkness to blinded eyes : and all these living truths 
were dead to hardened hearts. 

The Great Teacher had before him all classes of 
hearers. He preached to the cold and indifferent, the 
shallow and impressive, the worldly and ambitious, the 
aristocratic and luxurious, as well as to the faithful, and 
fruitful among men. The proud and haughty, he sent 
to the law of Moses ; but the humble and submissive he 
led to his own Gospel of Grace. The great burden of 
his teachings was the denunciation of sin, and the prom- 
ise of pardon. He pointed out a light to console the 
obedient, and a flame to consume the disobedient. He 
taught men how to make the best of both worlds. His 
object was to make every man his own master, and ena- 
ble him to bring all the faculties of his being into harmony 



120 VIRTUE VERSUS VICE. 

with the divine will. Truth was the great instrumentality 
he made use of to transform, purify arid elevate the 
human family. Religious truth was the principal ele- 
ment in all his public instructions. He constantly dealt 
out unalloyed truth to his large audiences — truths which 
shook, to their very center, the sandy foundations of the 
votaries of infidelity. His manner of imparting knowl- 
edge has impressed these divine truths upon the great 
heart of the world. They still sink deep into the souls, 
and linger long in the memories of all his true, and faith- 
ful disciples. 

This Great Teacher dealt not with questions of specu- 
lative curiosity, but with subjects of the greatest prac- 
tical, and spiritual import. With many of the ancients, 
virtue was but the offspring, or outgrowth of nature ; 
and vice, merely the madness of men. Compare the 
doctrines of moral evil, and human responsibility, as set 
forth in the teachings of Jesus, with the vague ideas of 
heathendom, and you will see, at once, the paramount 
importance of his sacred mission among men. His 
words were the reality of hope, and the very embodi- 
ment of life. None, like him, had ever fathomed the 
depths of the world's spiritual necessities, or revealed 
the hidden secrets of life, with such words of fire. The 
masses recognized in his teachings, the power and in- 
spiration of a life, unknown to the scribes and Pharisees, 
who followed so scrupulously the traditions of the elders. 
And the spirit of his Gospel breathes the inspiration 
of love into our lives, imparts the fullness of hope to 
our hearts and pours the blessings of heaven into our 
souls. 

Christian friends, Jesus is our Great Teacher, and we 



THE SAVIOUR OF SINNERS. 12 1 

are his humble disciples. The relation we sustain to 
him, implies a oneness with him in the great work of 
lifting the church, into a higher and holier life, and the 
salvation of a lost and ruined world. Our hearts should 
always beat, in perfect unison, with the sympathetic 
heart of the Saviour, in his purposes, and plans to res- 
cue the perishing of earth. For we can not afford to 
negative our professions, by refusing to cooperate with 
him in any of the labors, or sacrifices necessary to the 
salvation of souls. We need but follow the instructions, 
imbibe the spirit and become co-workers with Jesus ; 
and we may go forth to walk and talk with him on 
earth, as Adam did with God in Paradise, until we step 
over the border, into a brighter and better land, where 
we will reign eternally with him in glory. 

The King is universally recognized, in the Scriptures, 
as the Saviour of Sinners. He was the Messiah of 
the prophets. Ancient prophecy all centered in him, as 
its Sacrificial Saviour. F^or centuries the world waited, 
and watched for the Promised Deliverer. At length he 
came, with the message of life and salvation. He came 
to rescue sinners from the vortex into which they had 
fallen, that they might not be forever lost. He came to 
pay a debt which he did not owe, to relieve them of a 
debt they could not pay. He came to save them from 
a ruin, in which the tempest of sin had involved the 
world. He came to awaken hope, in the despondent 
hearts ; to kindle life in the souls, and to restore the 
fallen images of a great God to the lost sinners of a 
dying world. Jesus carried a world of sorrow in his in- 
nocent heart, and the burden of a world's guilt upon 
his sinless soul, as he marched from the Pretorium to 



122 A MIRACLE OF MERCY. 

Golgotha, And the testimony of all the Gospels point 
to him as the Suffering Saviour of Calvary. Storms of 
persecution, and floods of sorrow swept over his grief- 
smitten soul, like a mighty avalanche, as he hung in 
agonies upon the crimson cross. But he willingly bore 
all these shameful burdens, that he might bestow upon 
the world all needed blessings. For the prime object 
of his merciful mission was to give eternal life to sin- 
ners, at the cost of the most humiliating of all deaths — 
even the death of the cross. 

The salvation of sinners is a miracle of mercy. They 
are saved, only because divine mercy is deeper than hu- 
man folly. God does not paralyze the wicked hand, 
palsy the blaspheming tongue, nor blot out of existence 
those, who refuse him a place in his own universe, sim- 
ply because he is a God of mercy. He refused once to 
let the sun shine upon man's greatest sin, to show the 
world how great his mercy was in sending the Light of 
Life to those, who so much preferred to walk in the 
darkness of death. So, mercy is one of the chief attri- 
butes of the Saviour of Sinners, through which we have 
received the blessings of salvation. His mercy brought 
him, seeking and searching through all the barren wastes 
of sin and death for the loved, but lost of earth. The 
presence, of the Mighty Healer, and the aid of the Mer- 
ciful Helper is the only hope of the guilty, and helpless 
soul. Through his infinite mercy alone, can we hope to 
receive eternal life. For his mercy is the only refuge for 
sinners, and the secure citadel for his saints. He en- 
ters the heart, sick with sin, and it is his merciful pres- 
ence, which makes it a place of joy and gladness for 
evermore. 



HEAVENS RICHEST BLESSING. I 23 

The Saviour of Sinners is the world's Greatest Bene- 
factor. He brought with him heaven's richest blessing 
for man. That blessing makes the poorest of earth 
heirs of a rich and endless inheritance in glory. Jesus 
proclaimed, to all men, a full and free salvation. The 
precious truths he uttered have lifted humanity up toward 
the gates of heaven. He still speaks to the sin-burdened 
soul with the voice of peace, and the promise of rest ; 
and all within is joy and gladness. A deeper peace, 
and a much more profound and blessed rest, than this 
world can ever give, has come to every sin-stricken, and 
life-seeking sinner, who has laid his heavy burden down, 
in penitence, at the foot of the cross. The Saviour 
awakens the triune faculty of faith, hope and love, in 
every contrite seeker, and sends him forth rejoicing in 
the pardon of sin, and the power of life. He fills each 
trusting heart with a faith, which lifts the veil of the un- 
seen world, and reveals the glories of a Heavenly Para- 
dise. He brings back the lost treasure of hope, and 
with it anchors the redeemed soul to that within the 
veil. He binds, with the golden cords of love, each be- 
lieving, hopeful sinner, that the heart of a ransomed 
world may beat, in happy unison, with the great heart 
of Infinite Love. Thus he is constantly lifting a dying 
world up, out of darkness and death, into the light, and 
blessedness of an endless life. 

The Cross of Christ is the hope of the world. It is 
to humanity what stars are to the night, or rather, what 
the sun is to the clay. The Saviour of Sinners was a 
man without sin. He knew nothing - of the burden of 
personal guilt, or of the sense of personal pardon. Yet 
he hung in agonies upon the cross of death, that the 



124 HOPELESS WITHOUT THE CROSS. 

vilest sinners might lay hold upon the crown of life. 
Without this cross then, the sinner has no Sacrificial 
Saviour ; no Paschal Lamb ; and consequently, no hope 
of heaven. . Without this cross, the Christian has no 
Elder Brother ; no Compassionate Intercessor, and 
hence, no heavenly mansion, in which to repose when 
the toils, and conflicts of his earthly pilgrimage are 
passed. Here, the Saviour died, that sinners might 
live. Here, he also endured the deepest agonies of 
earth, that ransomed souls might be crowned with eter- 
nal glory. Here, he lifted his supplicating voice in 
prayer, for those who nailed him there. All lives would 
be worse than hopeless, and all deaths the beginning 
of endless despair, were it not for the Cross of Calvary. 
If we desire deeper conviction, more devout penitence, 
or greater sorrow for sin, we need only come nearer the 
cross of a Suffering Saviour, where justice and mercy 
meet, and a Just Judge pardons a guilty sinner. Then 
as Christians, we should employ all the charms of music, 
all the fervor of devotion, all the consecration of life and 
all the power of the pulpit, with which to tell a lost 
world the sacred story of the consecrated cross. For 
when reason fails, and warnings are heard in vain ; when 
blessings are spurned, and chastisements are despised ; 
when the hope of heaven no longer allures, and the 
fear of hell no longer alarms, then the infinite love of 
the Saviour of Sinners, as seen in his sufferings upon 
the cross, will often touch the prodigal's heart, unseal 
the fountain of tears, and bring the wayward wanderer 
back to his Father's house. 

Christ never intended, that any should purchase heaven 
with good works, or royal gifts. He kindly tendered 



THE REDEEMER OF A RANSOMED WORLD. 1 25 

life and salvation to all men, without money, and with- 
out price, upon the simple condition of faith in him, as 
their personal Saviour. With such an offer before us, 
we should not stop one moment to argue the question 
of acceptance. Living faith should always go before 
blind reason, when we contemplate spiritual things. It 
is folly to delay, madness to defer, when the greatest 
blessings, for time and eternity, may be had for the ask- 
ing. Especially is this true, when we consider that our 
eternal destiny may depend upon decisive, and immedi- 
ate action ; since the opportunity for choice may be 
gone in a moment, and gone forever. Yet, many delay 
their return for years. Some wait even until the tender 
feelings, ardent hopes and wakeful conscience of their 
youthful days are all buried beneath the guilt and sin of 
a long life, spent in rebellion against the Gracious King. 
In such hearts, the seed of divine truth seldom finds 
soil sufficiently congenial to germinate, and spring up 
into eternal life. But there is some hope for the aged 
sinner. Truth never loses its divine power. And the 
King is able to save, even to the uttermost, the very 
chief of sinners. This is sufficient to inspire us with 
unbounded confidence in him, as an All-sufficient Sav- 
iour. We can not over-estimate, either his power, or 
willingness to save. Neither can we trust him too soon, 
nor too implicitly; for he desires nothing else so much, 
as he does the salvation of sinners. 

The King of Glory is the Redeemer of a ransomed 
world. In ancient times, it was the custom to put a 
redemption price on captives taken in war, and allow 
their friends to redeem them, if they would. The money 
given to buy back from prison, and from death, was 



126 THE COURTS OF HIS GRACE. 

called the ransom, or redemption price. The world has 
been captured, by the powers of darkness. Silver and 
gold would not redeem a single soul. The redemption 
price was the blood of the Just. The world must be 
ransomed, or all would have been lost. So Jesus 
came to our rescue; and bought us back with his own 
precious blood. He paid the stipulated price, in heav- 
en's own coinage. He gave himself a ransom for all 
men. He threw open the prison doors of death to the 
world, and bade all the prisoners of sin, and sorrow 
walk out into the courts of his grace, and enjoy the lib- 
erty of purchased redemption. None should hesitate 
a single moment, to accept this proffered liberty. For, 
could we turn back the hand, on the dial plate of time, 
to the day, when the King hung in agonies upon the 
cross, and gaze, with our own eyes, upon the tragic 
scene, which purchased our redemption ; all hearts would 
doubtless melt, with deepest contrition ; all heads become 
fountains of tears ; and all souls embrace, with a most 
ardent love, the world's Dying Redeemer. How could 
we remain any longer in cruel bondage to Satan, with 
bursted bars, opened doors, and dying agonies, all invit- 
ing us so cordially, in the name of the Royal Redeemer, 
to happiness, and to heaven ? 

The World's Redeemer has a heart to pity, and a 
soul to sympathize with all classes, and conditions of 
suffering humaity. His compassionate soul yearns for 
the deliverance of every sin-fettered captive, who lingers 
in the land of bondage, from the idle, worthless dude 
of wealth, to the most wretched, poverty-stricken vaga- 
bond, that ever sat beneath the dark canopy of sorrow, 
or the sable curtains of death. His was truly a mission 



HIS MINISTERS OF MERCY. 1 27 

of mercy. He came to cheer the hopeless, and lift up 
the fallen among men. He came to restore the outcast, 
and pardon the guilty of our race. He came to seek, 
and to save the lost of earth. His blood was shed for 
those, who made it flow. His voice was lifted in behalf 
of those, who silenced it in death. His soul was made 
an offering- for those, who crucified him upon the cross. 
And he gloried in this merciful mission, which reached 
even his own foul murderers. 

Why did the King redeem us from death, says one, 
and still leave us to struggle with the weakness of the 
flesh, and the adversary of souls all the way through 
life? We answer, because many of the most valuable 
lessons of life are learned in its darkest trials, and deep- 
est troubles. We must walk on in fear, if we would 
learn the great lesson of faith. We must journey be- 
neath the shadows of the deepest sorrows, to learn, 
that all his providential dispensations are but ministers 
of mercy, to all those who see the bow of promise upon 
the brow of the darkest clouds, which gather over the 
pathway of their painful pilgrimage. Again, every trial, 
patiently borne, adds joy and strength to the humble 
soul. Every triumphant conflict, with the powers ol 
darkness, increases our courage in the great spiritual 
warfare. There is no joy like that of the conqueror, 
who fights against the powers of evil, and gains a vic- 
tory for himself, and his God. If we would be truly 
happy, we must learn to suffer patiently, resist manfully 
and contend nobly in life's great battle. We must free 
ourselves from the power, and dominion of sin, by fight- 
ing our way valiantly to the realms of light and liberty. 
The self indulgent, who seek happiness, in shunning 



128 THE DARK PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE. 

duty, know nothing of the real joy, and exultation of 
true victory. The crowns of heaven are all reserved 
for conquerors. The robes of Paradise are all to be 
worn by soldiers. The heavenly mansions await the 
weary reapers, who will return with great joy, bringing 
their sheaves with them to glory. 

Though infinitely compassionate, the Great Redeemer 
never promised to ward off the stroke of affliction, even 
from those who walk closest to him, through all the dark 
pilgrimage of life. He says to all his followers, In 
this world ye shall have tribulations. His promises of 
unalloyed happiness, all point, through the gateway of 
darkness and death, to the mansions of light and life. 
Yea more ! he often sends the dark nights, and long 
winters of trial, trouble and tribulation upon us, that 
all the Christian graces, and heavenly virtues of our holy 
religion may be developed and strengthened, the more 
beautifully to adorn our saintly characters. We must 
not conclude then, that the Infinite Redeemer has for- 
gotten us, because we fail to recognize his divine pres- 
ence, in all the dark hours of peril, temptation and be- 
reavement. We need not desire to see, at all times, the 
Helping Hand, which guides our feet, and guards our 
way. It is enough for us to know, that we are fighting 
under the King's banner of love ; that we are sailing on 
the old ship of Zion, with the Captain of our Salvation 
at her helm ; and we will look back after a while, from 
the broad, sunlit hills of heaven, upon the dangers, 
storms and conflicts, through which we have passed, 
with all our regrets lost in gratitude and love for him, 
who has manifested his own power and glory, in our 
timely deliverance. We will all have to hum, occasion- 



THE MORNING STAR. I 29 

ally, the song of sorrow here ; but it will only tune 
our hearts, with sweeter harmony, and enable us to sing, 
with deeper joys, the songs of redemption hereafter. 
Those who walk through the fiery furnace of affliction, 
hoping against hope, or sit down in the house of mourn- 
ing shedding tears which water their own hearts, will 
finally be led forth by the hand of a Merciful Redeemer, 
into the light, and gladness of a heavenly day. Then the 
long and happy clay which we shall spend in heaven 
will be brighter and better, because we have found so 
much night, in our earthly pilgrimage. 

This great redemption work, shall be carried on, until 
the vices and vulgarities of the world have all vanished. 
Then truth shall speak forth from every lip, virtue adorn 
every life, and peace find lodgement in every heart. 
This Regal Redeemer of the world will actually accom- 
plish every thing foreshadowed in the law, and predicted 
by the prophets concerning his wonderful redemption 
rei^n. He has already set up the sign of redemption 
on earth ; placed the ensigns of his glory in the heav- 
ens, and waved the bloody banner of the cross in vic- 
tory, at the very gates of hell. And he will push for- 
ward the victories of the cross, until all the powers of 
darkness are forever subdued ; the redemption of both 
our souls and bodies are finally complete, and then he 
will reign, as King of Saints, eternally in glory. 

The King represented himself to the Revelator, as 
the Morning Star of the moral world, shining forth 
in beauty and grandeur, from the heavens of his own in- 
finite love. This then is the last, and in some respects 
the most striking figure the Saviour ever used, in re- 
vealing himself to a dark and benighted world. His 
9 



130 A PERMANENT POLAR STAR. 

humble advent was but the falling of the first soft beams 
of light, from this bright Morning Star, upon the sable 
darkness of a long moral night to humanity. For a 
time, this Beautiful Star hung low in its golden orbit. 
Sometimes its mellow light was well nigh obscured ; 
and again, its radiant splendors trailed in the dust. 
The Young King shed his light gradually, like the light 
of the morning, upon the benighted pathway of human 
life, shaded with the sombre curtains of death, until he 
eventually ushered in the glories of a brighter, and bet- 
ter day to sinning, and suffering humanity. For the 
Star, which once shone in humble obscurity, now leads 
the shining hosts of heaven, as the Chief among ten 
thousand, and the One altogether lovely. 

Many brilliant stars have risen, and shone with efful- 
gent glory for a time, upon benighted humanity : but 
this brightly beaming Morning Star rises far above all 
others, and continues to shine with ever-increasing glory, 
while they pale, and fade from our moral vision. While 
on earth, Jesus was separate from sinners in his thoughts, 
feelings and affections. He was spotless, and without 
guile. He stood alone, in the moral world. Now he 
dwells apart, in his lofty purity. He has become a per- 
manent Polar Star, in the heavens of our faith. Like 
the star of the morning, ever beautiful and bright, he is 
shining silently, and alone, in the spiritual heavens, 
while all other stars have grown dim, and faded from 
our lingering view. 

This Morning Star speaks of the changeless sympathy, 
and undying affection of our King of Love. It stands 
as a pledge for the future — an everlasting security for 
all ages. In the darkest hours of our darkest nights, its 



THE EBON NIGHT OF MORTALITY. I3J 

burning beams of light fall upon our souls, inspiring 
them with the hope of immortality, and eternal life. 
This Friendly Star moves on, in its matchless career of 
sympathy, and love, through all the storms, and con- 
flicts of this mortal life, always pointing way-worn pil- 
grims to a land of rest — a home in heaven. It is the 
Sure Herald of an endless day. This is the ebon night 
of mortality. Death is all around us. The earth stands 
thick with tombs. Millions are annually marching on 
toward the grave. But, high above this dead, and dy- 
ing world, serenely beams the bright Morning Star of 
hope, Sweet Harbinger of an eternal clay. 

Watchman, what of the night? Tell us what its signs 
of promise are. The morning dawneth ; day is breaking, 
and the light of life is bursting, in floods of glory, upon 
a benighted world. The Morning Star is already far 
above the Eastern horizon, and begins to shine with 
matchless power, and great glory, upon the oriental 
world. The precious name of King Jesus is already 
peerless in power, among the greatest forces of earth. 
Universal dominion is inscribed upon the snowy folds of 
his cross-banner ; and the petty kingdoms of this world 
are being rapidly added to the growing empire of the 
King of Glory. The gentle light, of this steadily Rising 
Star, is already melting away, into the azure dawn of an 
eternal day. The earth, with all its darkness and death, 
is quietly receding; and heaven, with all its light and 
life, is gradually bursting in upon our enraptured vision. 
The darkness, of mortality's long night, is rapidly giving 
way, to the glorious light of an endless immortality. 

Malachi hailed the King, as the Sun of Righteous- 
ness, rising, with healing in his beams, upon all the 



132 LITTLE SUNS IN LOW ORBITS. 

nations of the earth. Life was on the wane. The light 
in men was darkness intensified. The world was man- 
tled with night, and shrouded in death. Little suns 
hung low, in their humble orbits, like lamps of glory on 
the battlements of heaven ; while still lesser lights 
spangled the dark vault of ignorance and superstition, 
for four thousand years. The world waited, and watched 
for the ushering in of a holier and happier day. At 
length the morning dawned, in all its beauty and loveli- 
ness. The King unfolded the vision of his glory, with 
such royal magnificence, that all other lights were com- 
pletely eclipsed, in the radiance of his dazzling splendors. 
The Sun of Righteousness arose, in power and great 
glory. Darkness fled, pursued by the rays of divine light, 
until the night of death was soon lost in the day of life, 
and immortality brought to light in the Gospel of Jesus. 
Life is still diversified, with sunshine and shadows. 
One moment is full of light and the next darkened with 
clouds. To-day we live in the light of hope ; but to- 
morrow grope our way in the darkness of despair. This 
week we are basking in the balmy summer of life, but 
the next finds us silent in the chilly winter of death. 
The darkest nights of grief, often follow the lightest 
days of earthly joy. The shadows of eternity, often fall 
across the brightest paths of time. And the angel of 
death, often darkens the threshold of the happiest homes 
on earth. How important it is then, that we have a 
Sun of Righteousness beneath whose genial rays we 
may warm our hearts, and vitalize our souls, for the 
fearful struggles of life and the solemn realities of 
death. If we would let our feeble lights, with their 
borrowed rays, so shine, as to illuminate our own path- 



*33 

ways, and shed a mellow radiance upon those around 
us, we must walk in the sacred precincts of this Sun of 
Righteousness, which is destined to drive back the 
darkness of a dismal night, and flood the world with 
the glories of a perfect day. It will make radiant, with 
its divine glories, all lands, from East to West, and 
encircle the earth, from pole to pole, with its heavenly 
beams of light and life. For it is the Sun oi Mercy, 
and the Light of the World. 

A Light, which is the life of men, has come to us, 
from the eternal world. And we can well afford to dis- 
pense with the torch-light of reason, and all other minor 
lights, unless we prefer the flickering rays of tapers, to 
the splendors of a cloudless sun. This Sun of Right- 
eousness rose with healino- in his beams, that the blind 
of earth might see, and the dead live through all etern- 
ity. It finds the sinner sitting in the valley and shadow 
of death, or wandering in this world of woe, and lights 
him back, through its golden gates, unto the heaven of 
endless glory. The prisoners of darkness, and the 
victims of death hear the footfalls of the Humble King, 
as he passes by their lowly dungeons, and follow him 
forth into the broad sunlight of an endless day, and a 
glorious destiny. The iron doors, of the dark kingdom 
of death, are thrown open everywhere ; the light of the 
glorious Sun of Righteousness shines in, and the invit- 
ing voice of the Prince of Life sounds through all its 
cells of sorrow, and the dead awake to live for evermore. 
The sinner, upon whose benighted soul the first ray of light 
has just flashed, bringing with it the gift and evidence 
of eternal life, feels like he was basking in the very sun- 
shine of the King's eternal glory. His happy soul is 



134 THE KING OF KINGS 

full of light and love, and he rejoices that the King has 
set up his throne in the heart for a peaceful, glorious 
and endless reign. Upon all such, this Sun of Right- 
eousness rises, and shines forever in glory. 

Paul speaks of Christ, as the King of kings, and 
Lord of lords. And Jesus himself said, in answer to 
Pilate's inquiry, Thou sayest that I am a King ; to this 
end was I born, and for this purpose came I into the 
world. His silent bearing indicated, that he was born 
to command ; and his graceful movements betrayed, at 
every step, the majesty of a King. Infinite Majesty had 
never before assumed the form, and functions of a serv- 
ant. Royalty had never before stood, and knocked, 
without invitation, at the doors of rebellious hearts, seek- 
ing peaceful admission, through its own voluntary sacri- 
fices. But this Humble Nazarene, of the Gospels, was 
a King of kings, the sceptre of whose power is supreme, 
over both the seen, and the unseen world. His domin- 
ion is universal. It includes the petty domains of all 
other kings and potentates. And none can go beyond 
the sound of his commanding voice, or compass the 
reach of his regal power. In the person of Jesus Christ, 
there was nobility of thought ; grandeur of character, 
and a moral worth, before which heaven and earth were 
forced to pause, and bow in reverence and adoration. 
For, during the thirty years in which he walked the 
earth in humility, he was but a King in Disguise, greater 
than all the kings of his race. He was, most emphatic- 
ally, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. 

The great events, in the earthly career of their Hon- 
ored King, were matters of paramount importance to 
the hosts of heaven. Holy angels loved to trace the 



THE KIND-HEARTED KING REJECTED. 1 35 

steps ; listen to the words, and witness the deeds of this 
Mighty King, whose heavenly glory was veiled beneath 
the garb of a Galilean Peasant. The places where he 
was born, lived, labored, suffered and died are all en- 
shrined forever in the memories of those vieilant visi- 
tants, and inscribed indelibly upon the lasting records of 
heaven. 

Jesus was born King of the Jews. He was the Legit- 
imate Heir to Israel's throne. But the Jews rejected 
their Worthy King. They were wedded to their formal- 
ities. Their religious system had made them slaves to 
the letter, but strangers to the spirit of their law. But 
after all, it is easier for the carnal mind to obey the let- 
ter, than to submit to the spirit. It is quite easy to be 
cold and haughty ; but rather difficult to be humble and 
spiritual. It is one thing to be a bigoted formalist, but 
quite a different thing to be an humble, and obedient 
subject of the meek and Lowly King. While the Kind- 
hearted King was rejected by the scribes, he was wor- 
shiped by the publicans. While the Pharisees despised 
him, he was adored by sinners. And while he was per- 
secuted by those in authority, even unto death, he was 
reverenced, and loved devotedly by many of their sub- 
jects. The Jews expected, in the person of their Mes- 
siah, a great earthly king, whose regal majesty 1 and 
power would be overwhelming to the nations. They 
preferred a mighty monarch, with a conquering army, 
to the Despised Nazarene with his cross of agonies. 
Hence they took no cognizance of his kingship, save to 
deny his right to reign, and lead him to the cross, rather 
than honor him with a crown. 

The King is the Arbiter of human destiny. He 



I36 THE ARBITER OF HUMAN DESTINY. 

looked into the eyes, and read, with ease, the most pro- 
found secrets of all hearts. He viewed the hearts, and 
revealed, most accurately, the destiny of all souls. It 
was not necessary for him to wave a wand, utter a mean- 
ingless incantation, watch the moving stars, listen to the 
moaning winds or roaring waters to find out the secrets 
of human destiny, or to convince the most illiterate, 
that he had power over the unseen world. Unlike hea- 
then priests, he had only to speak the word, and his 
divine power was manifest to all men. Nor was the 
King of kings ignorant of his own destiny. He saw the 
end, from the beginning. He knew that he must pass 
under the rod, and over the cross, to reach the crown. 
He was perfectly conscious of the shame and agonies, 
which lay in his pathway to glory. He often contem- 
plated the sad scenes of Calvary, in contrast with the 
lifting up of the everlasting gates, and the ascension of 
his Father's throne, where he would reign forever, as 
King of kings, and Lord of lords. 

The King of kings can justly claim the services of 
all hands, and the homage of all hearts. For he ac- 
quainted himself with our griefs, and bore all our sor- 
rows, that we might behold his crown, and share his 
glory. The travail of his soul was for the salvation of 
men. The agonies of his death were the yearnings of 
infinite love, and the struggles of infinite power to re- 
claim the wandering, and rescue the lost. . His whole 
life, through all its mysterious sufferings and sacrifices, 
was but one prolonged, and awful drama, which ought 
to move the world to tears, and win all hearts for the 
Crucified King. The closing scenes of Calvary, alone, 
ought to conquer the world, with its kings and its king- 



THE GREATEST AND GRANDEST EMPIRE. 1 37 

doms, for Jesus. Because the billows of woe, upon the 
great ocean of human grief, all sink to rest, when com- 
pared with the dying agonies of the King upon the 
cross. 

The kings of earth, by force, and the force of circum- 
stances, have founded great kingdoms among men. 
But the King of Glory has established upon the pure 
principles of love, the greatest, and grandest empire the 
world has ever known. Millions of his happy subjects 
live, and if needs be, would die for the honor of their 
Gracious King. He conquered them by love ; and 
holds them, in willing obeisance, by the same means. 
When once converted, the soul is brought into perfect 
harmony with the will of the Supreme King. He di- 
rects the ways, controls the thoughts and governs the 
passions of his subjects. He draws them to, and incor- 
porates them into himself, through the strong cords of 
his undying love. Their souls are charged with the 
electric force of his holy religion, and they are no longer 
their own sovereigns, but willingly bow, in sweet and 
loving subjection, to the King of kings and Lord of 
lords. But in his absolute sovereignty, the sole object, 
of the Adorable King, is the present and future happi- 
ness of these most obedient, of all subjects, and his 
own eternal glory. 

Fidelity then, upon the part of his subjects, is what 
the Kin or demands. This, we can well afford to eive. 
For, marching under his banner, we are perfectly safe ; 
following his counsels, we are always right, and fighting 
his battles, we are sure to be brought off more than con- 
querors in the final conflict. Let us go do the King's 
bidding then ; and our influence for good will deepen 



I38 FIDELITY, AND ITS REWARDS. 

and widen, so long as there is a soul to be saved, in 
this wide world of ours. It may be small, at first, but 
it will prove powerful in the end. A pebble is dropped 
in the water, and the circlets of its waves reach the 
most distant shores of the oval ocean. A little bird 
wings its way through the air, and sets in motion a 
force, which is felt around the earth, and among the 
stars. So every act of obedience, to Heaven's King, 
starts a wave of light, and joy, and gladness, which shall 
roll on through endless ages. In the King's service, 
every faithful effort will be rewarded with success, and 
every valiant struggle crowned with victory. The me- 
morial, of all who offer their sacrifices upon the altar of 
faith and love, will ever be held in grateful remem- 
brance, by the King of Saints. And every soldier of 
the cross, who proves his fidelity, shall be awarded a 
crown of righteousness, and shall reign forever, with 
the King of kings, as a prince and priest in the kingdom 
of glory. 




THE MINISTRY OF THE KING. 



Chapter VII. 



But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry. — Heb. 8: 6. 



The public ministry of the King began when he was 
thirty, and lasted only three years. It was full of lights 
and shadows. It was diversified with sunshine and 
showers. It was lulled into calms, and swept by storms. 
These three years were the most eventful upon record. 
They were fraught with the richest benedictions of 
heaven. They were pregnant with the greatest blessings 
for humanity. And they were replete with the grandest 
exhibitions of the King's goodness, grace and mercy. 
This ministry is, very naturally, divided into his words, 
his works and his ways. These constitute the rich 
legacy, which the King has left to the world. And they 
ought to be studied, appreciated and imitated by all 
men. Under these three headings, we propose to com- 
pass, in this chapter, the most important events in the 
King's ministerial life. 

The words of the King were many, and precious. 
Only a small fractional part of them were left upon 
record. But those we have are the embodiment of wis- 
dom and power. They are transcendant, and immortal. 
They are spirit, and they are life. They burn their way 
to the very core of our hearts. They sink deep into our 



(139 ) 



I40 WORDS OF WISDOM. 

inmost souls. They are the power of God unto salva- 
tion, to every believing sinner. These words of life are 
our richest treasure. They came burdened with the 
offers of salvation, and the promises of heaven. They 
are our most sacred trust. We should guard them as 
the apples of our eyes, even until death. They are the 
best weapons of our spiritual warfare. We should 
wield them effectually in every battle of life. To this 
end, our heads, and our hearts, all ought to be full of 
them. But it is ours to send these precious words out, 
in their divine potency, that all men may hear the King's 
call of mercy, and accept his tender of life and salvation. 

In these immortal words, of the King, lay hidden all 
the riches of wisdom ; all the graces of culture, and all 
the sacred beatitudes, with which human society has 
since been blessed. When Jesus spoke, his object was, 
not to amuse and entertain, but to edify and save. His 
messages of love always carried with them, the sacred 
fire of a soul burning with the most fervid zeal, and in 
sore travail for the salvation of sinners. These holy 
words of wisdom and grace, which dropped fresh from 
his sacred lips, while on his mission of mercy, among 
mortal men, were the grandest that ever saluted human 
ears, and the sweetest that ever found lodgement in 
human hearts. The very simplicity of the sacred stories, 
in which he embodied these grand truths, and through 
which he communicated such important lessons, kindled 
the imaginations, fired the hearts and burned their way 
into the very souls of his humble and honest auditors. 

The King's voice had in it more than man's power, 
mingled with more than woman's tenderness. It was 
strong enough, for thousands to hear his wonderful 



JESUS SPOKE, AS NEVER MAN SPAKE. 141 

words, and yet gentle enough, to catch the infant's 
ear, and ravish, with its sweetness, the tenderest heart. 
The divine grace of the Gentle Speaker, gave him a 
strange mastery over the multitudes, who followed him, 
and listened, with throbbing hearts, to his words of weight 
and wisdom. He wore the air of a calm and exalted 
superiority ; but the least expression, of tenderness and 
sympathy, drew all honest hearts around him, in sub- 
mission and admiration. His voice was the key-note to 
the meaning of his every message of mercy. Such stern, 
and stubborn facts, clothed with such gracious, and lov- 
ing words, never fell from human lips before. 

Jesus spoke, as never man spake. He spoke, as one 
having divine authority, even the authority of a Universal 
King, who speaks without the least restraint, and with a 
perfect right to demand universal obedience. Jesus was 
a young man, but he spoke with higher authority, greater 
grace and more wisdom than all the ancients combined. 
Never did a mere human teacher, mingle such meek- 
ness and majesty in his person ; never did an earthly 
sage, dwell upon so lofty a theme, with such a lowly 
spirit ; and never did holy prophet, pour out the burden, 
or joy of ages and nations, in such humble yet exalted 
strains, as did the Majestic Messiah manifest, in deliver- 
ing the truths of his own everlasting Gospel to the 
world. The King clothed his language with such au- 
thority, as the wisest, and best of earth had never 
assumed. But still he spoke, with deepest humility, the 
words of life and salvation. These words, at once so 
simple and sublime, must have been all they purported 
to be, the words of a God-man. 

The King" also clothed his gracious words with the 



I42 THE COMMON PEOPLE HEARD HIM GLADLY. 

incidents, and surroundings of a daily life full of simplic- 
ity, industry and frugality. This gave them a peculiar 
interest to the common people, who could the more 
readily comprehend, and the better appreciate their 
valuable lessons. These heavenly words were like the 
dew of the morning, falling in blessings upon the tender 
hearts of the poor, meek and merciful, who heard him 
so often, and so gladly. See the King of Heaven, in 
the bow of the rocking ship, teaching the thronging 
crowds upon the sea shore! How calm! how conde- 
scending! how patient! He bears with the rude, pities 
the ignorant and instructs the gathering multitudes. 
They catch the tone of his persuasive, and commanding 
voice, and wonder at the sweetness and grace, the wis- 
dom and power of the heavenly words, which fall from 
his loving lips. They listen, with longing, for the living 
water and bread of life, which these words set before 
them, in such bounty, and with such liberality upon the 
part of the King. No matter when, or where he taught, 
by the seaside, in the synagogue, or on the mountain 
top, he always spoke the words of eternal life, in such a 
way that the common people heard him gladly. The 
manner of the King exerted a wonderful influence upon 
his audiences. It repelled the rude and vicious, but 
invited the timid and distrustful. It often silenced the 
harsh voice of censure among his enemies and inspired 
the sweet notes of praise, in the ranks of his followers. 
These words, spoken by the King, are universally 
acknowledged to be the most potent ever uttered by 
mortal man, or heard by mortal ear. Wherever re- 
peated, they have carried light into dark homes, kindled 
hope in desponding hearts, and given victory and life 



WORDS OF WARNING AND APPROVAL. 1 43 

to dying souls. These precious words of Jesus still 
live, and will live on, speaking the same life-giving 
truths, so long as the world shall stand. They were 
spoken by a voice which must be heard, and should be 
heeded by all men. They address our understandings, 
and reasoning faculties, with arguments, and evidences 
of infinite power. They quicken our consciences with 
an awful sense of violated law, and the fearful forebod- 
ings of divine retribution. Thev over-awe our souls 
with the sad solemnities of death and the dreadful 
realities of eternity. Jesus always had words of ap- 
proval and encouragement, for the faithful and obedient, 
which girded up the loins, and strengthened the hearts 
of his disciples. He also had words of rebuke and 
warning, for the disobedient and rebellions, which fell, 
with ponderous weight, upon the souls of the wicked, 
often silencing the audacity, and blasphemy of his bitter- 
est enemies. Though these words were all barbed 
arrows, in the hearts of the King's enemies ; yet they 
were spoken in deepest sympathy, and divine love for 
the sinner. They breathed forth the devotion of a true 
and faithful Friend to all men. One who sealed the 
sincerity of his appeals to sinners, with the testimony of 
his dying love upon the rugged cross. 

The King discoursed to the people, as the Author, 
and Founder of the Gospel of Grace. When he spoke, 
the eyes of all were fastened upon him. His tone of 
voice was so natural; his thoughts so clear and compre- 
hensive ; his words so simple and significant, and his 
doctrines so different from those of the Rabbis and ru- 
lers of Israel, whose hard theological, or ritualistic dis- 
cussions were so stale and technical, that all the people 



144 THE GREAT PREACHER OF ISRAEL. 

testified, saying, This man speaks, as never man spake 
before. The great Preacher of Israel was an earnest 
speaker. His resistless eloquence charmed even his 
enemies, until many of them quailed and cowered, under 
his severe reprimands. He met all the real issues of 
life, like a Moral Hero ; and grappled with all its pro- 
found problems, like a Master Philosopher. The pointed 
truths he uttered, cut their way to the very heart's core. 
His method of sermonizing was far in advance of the 
modern idea. There was nothing in his discourses to 
provoke a smile, much less to create laughter. He 
preached humility, forgiveness and universal charity. 
This raised up against him, a host of bitter enemies, who 
treated him as a vile impostor. But his words of warn- 
ing were still stern and unyielding, though always sea- 
soned with grace, and ladened with the promises of life. 
Among the great preachers and benefactors of the world, 
there are none to be compared with Jesus. In the wake 
of his Gospel, learning and intellect have supplanted 
ignorance and superstition : morality and refinement 
have superseded vice and degradation ; and spirituality 
and godliness have conquered beastliness and fiendish- 
ness. And his church is mother to all the great insti- 
tutions, which to-day bless and honor the world. 

The principle upon which the King interpreted. Script- 
ure was so new, so profound and so luminous, that it 
completely confounded the wisest of his most bitter en- 
emies, while it filled, with rapture and delight, the lov- 
ing hearts of his devoted disciples. His divine wisdom 
poured floods of light over the sacred pages of Inspira- 
tion, for humanity. And his interpretations ought to 
teach us, at least this one important lesson, that wher- 



THE COGENCY OF DIVINE INSPIRATION. 1 45 

ever we find a mysterious passage, the most simple, and 
comprehensive interpretation is likely to be the truest, 
and the best exegesis of his inspired words. His in- 
structions were rich with metaphors, maxims and para- 
bles of general, as well as personal application. All his 
words were ladened with important lessons, for those to 
whom they were addressed. But many of them have a 
broader, and deeper meaning, in their universal applica- 
tion to humanity. And it is when we make these gen- 
eral applications, that our own cases are reached ; our 
hearts stirred within us, and our lives molded into har- 
mony with heaven, through the power of his cogent 
words. 

The King spoke, not with the voice of erudition, but 
with the cogency of divine inspiration. He whispered 
words of peace and hope, to all hearts heavy with grief, 
and burdened with fears. These silent whisperings, of 
the King, were heard farther, and lingered longer in the 
hearts of his people, than the loudest vociferations of 
the devotees of infidelity, in all their vain opposition to 
his mission of mercy in the world. His was not the 
mere utterance of a man, which died away with the last 
faint echo, that fell back from the mountain slopes : but 
the wisdom of a God, which swept on down through the 
centuries, purifying, and adorning the lives of millions 
of the noblest, and best men and women, who ever lived 
on earth. 

Jesus went, from town to town, and from city to city, 
teaching the people the way of life and salvation, most 
perfectly. The vast multitudes were anxious to listen 
and learn, at the feet of the Divine Instructor. They 
were perfectly delighted ; and, in silent but rapt devo- 
10 



I46 PREACHING WITH A NOBLE UNCTIOJN. 

tion, they drank in the precious truths, which he brought 
them from heaven. The sequel of his ministry shows, 
that those who received his words, into good and honest 
hearts, were made glad unto salvation; while those who 
willfully rejected the truth went away, exceedingly sor- 
rowful, even unto death. Just so shall it ever be. The 
rejectors, of life, shall depart, without any hope of heaven. 
But, infinitely bountiful will be the harvest of riches and 
honor, which shall follow the faithful reception of his 
precious words, even by the least, and lowest of the 
sons of men. 

Such doctrines as the King promulgated, illustrated, 
as they were, by his own perfect life, and crowned by 
his own triumphant death, could but exert a powerful 
influence for good in the world. The inherent dignity 
of manhood, the common brotherhood of men, and the 
universal Fatherhood of God, as taught by Jesus Christ, 
were among the many important lessons which he gave 
to humanity. His divine injunctions were such, as even 
the cold, selfish money changers could not resist, when 
he used the scourge of cords, in driving them from th.e 
Holy Temple. His words of authority were irresistible. 
They hushed the storm, healed the sick, awoke the dead 
and cast out devils. 

Pontius Pilate said of the King, A young man ap- 
peared in Galilee preaching with a noble unction, a new 
law, in the name of the gods that sent him. Never have 
I heard in the Pettico, nor read in the works of the 
philosophers any thing to compare with the maxims of 
Jesus. It was on account of the wisdom of his sayings 
that I granted so much liberty to the Nazarene. I ex- 
tended to him my protection unknown, perhaps, to him- 



HIS WORDS, THOSE OF A SAGE. 1 47 

self. He was at liberty to act, speak, assemble and 
address the people ; and also to choose disciples, unre- 
strained by any Pretorian mandate. But this unlimited 
freedom granted to Jesus provoked the Jews ; not the 
poor, but the rich and the powerful. It is true that 
Jesus was severe on the latter ; and this was a political 
reason, in my opinion, not to restrain the liberty of the 
Nazarene. To the scribes and Pharisees, he would say, 
You are a race of vipers ; you resemble painted sepul- 
chres. Pilate also passed this compliment upon Jesus 
to his face : Your words are those of a sage. I know 
not whether you have read Socrates or Plato, but this I 
do know, there is in your discourses a majestic simplic- 
ity that elevates you far above these philosophers. He 
afterwards said to Herod, that Jesus appeared to be one 
of those great philosophers that great nations sometimes 
produce. His doctrines are by no means sacrilegious, 
and the instruction of Rome is to leave him to that lib- 
erty of speech which is justified by his actions. 

But the people, among whom the King grew up, and 
to whom he ministered, were a peculiar people. They 
differed in many respects, from all other nationalities. 
The spirit, opinions and customs which prevailed, and 
influenced them, in their social, political and religious 
life, were largely peculiar to themselves. The Judaism 
of his day was especially peculiar. It had substituted 
empty forms, and senseless ceremonies, for truth and 
righteousness. Their religion had been reduced to a for- 

o o 

malism, in which there was neither legality, loyalty or love. 
It was a ritualism which reached its culmination, when 
it virtually assumed to be the whole of religion, and slew 
the King of Glory, because he witnessed against it dead, 



I4S THE GREAT GOSPEL FEAST. 

and damning formalities. The dense clouds along its 
political horizon ; the mighty wreck of its sacred institu- 
tions, and the general growth of corruption had already 
broken up the great deep of Jewish society. Even the 
holy priesthood had lost its wonted purity, and fallen a 
prey to Idumean tetrarchs, and Roman procurators. 
The great Jewish Sanhedrim was under the influence of 
the wily Saducees, and the wicked Herodians. So noth- 
ing was left the truly pious Israelites, but increased fidel- 
ity to the Law of Moses, a longing desire for, and a 
hearty reception of the Messiah of Israel, at his coming. 
In this strange life, the Humble Nazarene, during his 
public ministry, was the Central Figure, to which all oth- 
ers were subordinate. When he commanded, they were 
forced to obey. His powerful words of condemnation, 
burned their way to all hearts, and riveted deep and 
pungent conviction upon many souls. 

In the parable of the King's great banquet, Jesus 
taught the haughty scribes, and selfish Pharisees, that 
God, in his divine displeasure, had rejected them and 
theirs, and sent his servants out into the highways and 
hedges, among the poor and destitute, even among 
the Gentiles, to seek worthy guests for the great Gos- 
pel Feast, which he had come to spread out before all 
men. He taught them that it was one thing to be in- 
vited; but another thing entirely to accept the Gospel 
invitation, in the proper spirit. He told them plainly, 
that many were called, but few were chosen. 

The King, unheralded by friend or foe, six months be- 
fore his crucifixion, appeared, in the midst of the great 
Feast of Tabernacles, and began to teach the vast mul- 
titudes of Israel, in the Holy Temple at Jerusalem. 



POWERFUL WORDS RENDER POWERLESS. 1 49 

When the great Jewish Sanhedrim were informed by 
their emissaries of his presence, they watched, with ma- 
lignant hatred, and jealous hearts, all his merciful move- 
ments among the multitudes. But, on the last days of 
the great feast, they sent officers to arrest him, while he 
taught the people, in the Holy Temple. The soldiers 
entered the Temple, and stopped a moment, to listen at 
the words of the Hated King. They soon felt, that 
there was a guilty distance between them and the Hum- 
ble Speaker. Hearing his powerful words, they became 
powerless ; and could not fulfill their merciless mission. 
Their strength was paralyzed, their courage lost and 
their wills subdued by a force infinitely more potent than 
their own. The sacred spell completely disarmed them. 
And they returned to the authorities, with this strange 
apology, for not having carried out their orders : Never 
man spake like this man. After tantalizing the timidity 
of the soldiery, and ignoring the; justice of Nichodemus' 
wise suggestion, the defeated Council condemned the 
Innocent Saviour without trial, and adjourned sine die. 
They went to their homes, and Jesus withdrew to the 
Mount of Olives. But early the next morning, Jesus 
returned to the Holy Temple, sat down and taught all 
the people. So it was, wherever the King went, his 
words attracted the multitudes ; the scribes read the 
law with but few to listen ; the priests were left almost 
alone, at their evening sacrifices, and the rulers were the 
more enraged, and determined to put him to death, be- 
cause of his wonderful words. 

The works of the King were wonderful, and divine. 
All he did was not left upon record. It was too vol- 
uminous. His mighty works constitute an important 



150 THE WORKS OF THE KING. 

part of his great mission to humanity. His miracles of 
mercy stamp, with the seal of heaven, the divine mission 
of the Merciful Messiah. One of the grandest eulogies 
ever passed upon the Beneficent Saviour, was couched in 
these few short words : He went about doing good. 
His life-work was one grand, harmonious effort to lift 
the human family up to a higher, and a holier plain of 
being. In unison with the deepest experiences of human 
nature, and in concord with the loftiest sentiments of 
the human soul, he lived and labored to this worthy end. 
From every solitary retreat, from every sweet com- 
munion with the Father, he came forth with deeper 
sympathy for the sinning, and suffering : and with 
renewed strength to succor, and to save the lowly, and 
the lost. His was a noble work, most nobly done. He 
did not sit down in the cool shade, and while away the 
golden moments of his precious life, while duty was left 
undone. He was always up and doing, with a will, the 
work which the Father had given him to do. And even 
those, who denied his miraculous gift, could not face the 
force, or repel the power of many of his mighty works. 
So, the moments which crown us, with worthily achieved 
victories, are the most active, and consequently, the 
sweetest, and happiest moments of our Christian pil- 
grimage. 

One of the most important works the King did, while 
in the flesh, was the selecting, instructing and commis- 
sioning of the twelve apostles to preach his glorious 
Gospel. For this important work, he chose poor, illiter- 
ate fisherman, who had spent their days steering their 
crafts over the dark waters of Gennesaret, and gathering 
the prey from their dripping nets, on the sea-shore. 



THE WEIGHT, AND WORTH OF DIAMONDS. 151 

But these men, so simple, but so significant in life, were 
men of experience. They were accustomed to hard- 
ships. They were men of principle and integrity. They 
were also great in soul, and rich in love for the Master. 
There was but one exception to these general state- 
ments. At the same time they represented almost every 
shade of human character, from the confident Peter to 
the doubting Thomas ; and every phase of discipleship, 
from the loving John to the treacherous Judas. But 
Jesus saw, beneath the rough exterior of these uncul- 
tured men, the weight, and worth of unpolished dia- 
monds. So the King often passes by the rich young 
man, with his refinement and culture, and lays his hand 
lovingly upon the head of the poor widow's son, in his 
poverty and illiteracy, and says, Go preach my Gospel. 
Jesus knew, these hardy fishermen would one day shine 
forth, with unsurpassing splendors ; and hence he loved 
them, in anticipation of their future devotion, and useful- 
ness in his service. He was not diappointed. In the 
midst of darkness and death, they hugged to their bosom, 
the closer, a religion, the principles and promises of 
which spoke to them, only of persecutions to be encoun- 
tered, and sufferings to be endured in this world; but 
of eternal life, and boundless glory in the world to come. 
They walked hard in the footsteps, which he had left 
them ; ever preaching his Gospel, and constantly glory- 
ing in his cross, until their consecration to his service 
was sealed, with their own precious blood. Jesus w T as 
perfectly devoted to these apostles. He was identified 
with them in all their struo-o-les, their sorrows and their 
joys. He was at home in both the sad, and sunny ex- 
periences of their lives. He exerted, at all times, a 



152 NEVER MAKES ANY MISTAKES. 

powerful influence, for good, over their minds. He en- 
trenched himself, most lovingly, into their hearts. He 
ever unified their purposes, and harmonized their efforts, 
in the great work of saving souls. So Jesus is inter- 
ested in, and identified with, all his faithful ministering 
servants to-day. We are all co-laborers, with him, in 
the great, and grand work of saving a lost and ruined 
world. 

The King never makes any mistakes, in his calls for 
laborers in his vineyard. If he prefers a young lad like 
David, to a kingly man like Saul, it is no evidence of a 
blunder. He calls men exactly suited to the work he 
has for them to do, with all its surroundings and circum- 
stances. The life-work, assigned each one of us, is just 
where we can do the most, and the best service for the 
King. And there is just enough time given us, to do 
our work well, with none to throw away. With time 
and talents, and opportunities all devoted to the King's 
service, we will do our work nobly ; and the reward of 
our labor will be given us, increased seven-fold. When 
the King calls his servants to reckon with them, it will be 
a sad day, indeed, for those who have nothing, but 
buried talents, wasted time and neglected opportunities 
to set before him. But, forever happy, those who have 
toiled long, and labored faithfully in the Lord's vine- 
yard. To them rest will be sweet, and heaven eternal 
happiness. 

The life-actions of the King were always in perfect 
harmony with the sacred mission, upon which he came 
into the world. Every act of his noble, self-sacrificing 
life was in sweetest concord with the scenes, in which he 
was the Principal Character. There was the most per- 



THE CONDUCT AND CALLING OF MEN. 1 53 

feet agreement between the conduct of the Great Actor 
and the sacred stage, upon which he acted the great 
drama of his most eventful life. The happy harmonies, 
of this grand life, bring with them many important 
lessons to humanity. They teach us, that there should 
always be perfect harmony between the conduct, and 
calling of men. They warn us against the inconsist- 
encies, and improprieties of a cold, formal profession of 
religion. They admonish us to act nobly and grandly 
our part in the Christian life. And they beckon us on- 
ward and upward, in the full development of all the 
Gospel graces, in happy harmony with the scenes, and 
surroundings of that glorious kingdom, into which the 
King hath called us, to act our part in the great spirit- 
ual warfare, through which we are passing. Christians 
who learn these grand lessons, and live worthy of their 
chaste surroundings, become pillars of strength and 
towers of glory in this kingdom of grace. Their foot- 
steps track close upon the Highway of Holiness. Their 
reminiscences of the past are kindred to the joys of the 
future. With them, no discordant notes ever mar the 
melodies of heaven. But those who fail to learn these 
all-important lessons will find, all along the line of their 
individual lives, a constant discord between their life- 
actions, and the grand scenes in which they are called 
to play their parts on the stage of human existence. 
Yes, the glorious places of our life-actions, as members 
of his dual kingdom, demand the most thorough conse- 
cration of every thing, upon the part of all his subjects, 
to the King of Glory. 

The King, at one time, rescued his disciples from the 
jaws of death. They were crossing the placid sea of 



154 JESUS WALKING ON THE WATERY WAVES. 

Galilee. Night came on, and with the darkness came 
peril and storm. The great deep of little Gennesaret 
was broken up. The maddened billows ran mountain 
high. Their little ship rocked, like a drifting bubble 
riding on the rolling waves. The disciples had already 
seen, in these dark, wicked waves, the winding-sheets 
for their watery graves ; and heard in these surging, 
senseless billows, the death-knell, as they thought, of 
all their earthly hopes. But, in this hour of peril and 
storm, Jesus came walking, in majesty, upon the watery 
waves, to perform one of his most wonderful works. 
The Kinp- of the troubled sea, over which she was rid- 
ing, amid the buffeting billows, was soon at the helm of 
the trembling little barque. In the blackness of the 
night, and through the darkness of the storm shone the 
glory of the Coming Deliverer, whose foot-prints were 
left upon the waves and whose commanding voice 
sounded out over the watery waste, speaking peace to 
the burdened billows of the surging sea. In the midst 
of this mighty commotion, the King of Storms said to 
wild Gennesaret, Peace, be still, and there was a great 
calm. The angry billows were hushed into silence. 
The rocking ship glided smoothly on to the desired 
haven. And the sea-sick mariners were soon in their 
homes again, happy in relating to loved ones the perils 
of the past night, with its wonderful deliverance from 
the raging tempest. 

Life is but a sea, with its endless diversity of joys and 
sorrows, clouds and sunshine, calms and storms, over 
which humanity is making its perilous voyage, from the 
cradle to the grave. The vessels on which we sail are 
hurried on, in their silent courses, as swiftly as the flight 



THE PERILOUS VOYAGE OF LIFE. 1 55 

of time can move them ; and they will land us, erelong, 
upon the unknown shores of eternity. The frail barques, 
upon which we have launched, are both beautiful, and 
lovely. And they glide gently, but rapidly down the 
silvery stream of time. They seem self-moved, but are 
drawn by the golden, swift-winged moments of an hour. 
These little life-boats, in which we have embarked, are 
liable, at any time, to be driven by the fearful tempests 
of grief and sorrow, or tossed by the cruel storms of ad- 
versity and despair upon the unknown, and fatal rocks 
of the mysterious deep, over which we are sailing so 
rapidly. We are all out upon this uncertain sea of life. 
The currents of time are bearing us all, on our voyage, 
rapidly through the perils of the deep. There is no stay 
of time, or check of tide to those whose sails are set for 
the eternal shores. Onward, over the dangerous sea 
of life, across the dark river of death, we hasten to our 
fate, or fortune, beyond the tossing tempests of time. 
We should therefore study well the perils, and safe- 
guards of our life-voyage through the earth. In all the 
calms, and storms of life, we should keep our bearing, 
and hold our course well for the Port of Peace, until we 
pass beyond the shadows of the tempests, and enter the 
haven of an endless life. For we are all sailing, either 
for the blessed harbor, where we will anchor safely in 
the haven of eternal rest, or else we are drifting reck- 
lessly among the breakers, doomed to sink, for want of 
a sure anchor, amidst the perils of storm and tempest, 
to rise no more forever. 

If we would make ours a successful voyage, and reach, 
at length, the desired haven, in triumph, we must lash 
our life-boats to, and board the Old Ship of Zion. The 



I56 ENTERING THE PORT OF PEACE. 

Captain of our Salvation must pilot us safely over the 
dangerous sea of time. The angry elements above, and 
the strong currents beneath would soon dash our frail 
barques to ruin, upon the hidden rocks of time, were it 
not for the infinite wisdom, and power of our Great 
Pilot. But those who sail on the Old Ship of Zion, 
guided as she is by the Master Pilot of the seas, need fear 
no evil. For they may always hear his welcome voice, 
as he sounds the depth over which they sail, through 
the sunshine, and shadows of their variable voyage. 
They may also feel his gentle touch, as he casts the 
steadfast anchor of hope, amid the storms of death, to 
stay their vessel from shipwreck, as they near the rocky 
shores of eternity. See the tried and true Old Ship ! 
Her gallant prow is set towards the mansions of light 
and life. She is making rapid strides for the Port of 
Peace. The King of Glory is at her helm, and a suc- 
cessful voyage is inevitable. She is nearing the shores 
of the better land. She rides triumphantly into the 
haven at last, amid the welcome hosannas of angels, 
and the loud hallelujahs of the redeemed. Joy ineffable ! 
Glory infinite and eternal ! Farewell sin and sorrow ! 
earth and time, adieu ! Welcome, thrice, and forever 
welcome the scenes of beauty, and the sense of life, 
which crown our beings with endless, and immortal 
glory. Heaven is our home at last; and will be our 
home for evermore. 

During the early part of the King's ministry, he made 
some very interesting, and successful missionary tours 
through Galilee. On these circuits, his preaching was 
both private and public, in towns, villages and country- 
places. These were missions of mercy ; and formed 



MISSIONARY TOURS THROUGH GALILEE. 1 57 

the brightest episodes in his most eventful life. As he 
passed along the highways, the impotent people, who 
had heard of his marvelous cures, called upon him for 
mercy ; and a touch from the fingers, or a word from 
the lips of the Great Healer and Helper, and virtue 
went out from him, to change the whole tenor of their 
lives, and gladden, perchance, the entire future of their 
existence. 

At the close of his last journey through Galilee, the 
Merciful Missionary was filled with divine compassion 
for the neglected multitudes, who had thronged around 
him during his ministry among them. He saw them, as 
sheep without a shepherd ; as a harvest ripe unto the 
sickle, without a reaper ; and as a neglected vineyard, 
without a laborer. So he commissioned seventy of his 
disciples to go out, by twos, and traverse these destitute 
regions, confirm his teachings, and perform among them 
all needed works of love and mercy. His parting in- 
structions, to them, were full of warning and comfort. 
Their mission was to be simple and self-supporting. 
The open hospitality of Galilee was ample for their main- 
tenance. Here we have two essential elements to suc- 
cessful missionary work in any age, or among any 
people. 

The King's miracles of healing were among his most 
wonderful works. These were not mere wanton displays 
of divine power. They were all rich, in their moral 
significance, and potent in their spiritual import. They 
were full of precious, and practical lessons to humanity. 
How truly powerful were all of his mighty miracles. He 
willed it, and the water was turned into wine. He 
touched the eyes, closed from birth, and the blind man 



158 IMPORTANT SPIRITUAL LESSONS. 

rejoiced at the first sight of nature's beauties. He 
blessed a few loaves and fishes, and there was sufficient 
for thousands, enough and to spare. He spoke, and 
the dead lived. He rebuked the powers of darkness, 
and devils were cast out of the dumb. He declared 
himself the resurrection and the life, and Lazarus came 
forth from the tomb, a fit subject to be loosed, and set at 
liberty. We would be perfectly safe in saying, that mul- 
tiplied thousands were healed by him, during his public 
ministry. The maim, the lame, the halt, the blind, the 
deaf, the dumb, the leper, the demoniac and the sick, 
with all manner of diseases, were the objects of his 
mercy, and the subjects of his healing power. 

There are important spiritual lessons taught us in all 
these temporal healings. They were but exhibitions of 
that infinite love and mercy, which long to heal the sin- 
sick souls of all men everywhere. Take, for illustration, 
the healing of a leper, and see how strikingly it repre- 
sents the conversion of a soul. Leprosy is the very 
synonym for sin. There is such a striking resemblance 
in their origin, development and effects, that " the lep- 
rosy of sin" is an expression, no less trite, than true. 
The ban of the sacred law shut the leper out from the 
society of his friends and kindred, and drove him from 
the privileges of the holy sanctuary. He was doomed 
to walk comfortless and alone, in the shadow of a great 
sorrow. His life's journey was to be completed in sack- 
cloth, and deepest lamentations. His doom was far 
worse than death ; and his destiny, through life, much 
more terrible than the grave. But the healing power, 
of the miracle-working King, restored him to society, 
with all its sacred immunities. Just so it is with the 



BLENDED INTO HEAVENLY HARMONY. 1 59 

sinner, in conversion. He is restored to the society of 
the good. The barriers are all broken down. The 
fetters are all shaken off, And the banished soul is 
welcomed to all the privileged immunities of earth and 
heaven. 

The conversion of souls, or the forgiveness of sins, 
was the most wonderful work the Eternal King did 
while on earth. We love to contemplate Jesus in all 
his labors of love, and works of grace. But we rejoice 
most in the presence of his sin-pardoning power — his 
sin-killing, and soul-saving work. Before it, the wild 
and wayward became gentle and gallant. Their rough, 
uncouth manners became calm and candid. Their harsh 
voices, and grating discord were melted into sweetest 
music, and blended into heavenly harmony. And their 
sin-pardoned souls were filled with joy and gladness un- 
utterable, and full of glory. The convicted man stood 
before the King, as his own accuser. He sat in judg- 
ment on his own case, and unhesitatingly rendered a ver- 
dict of guilty. The solemn thought, of living without 
peace, and dying without pardon, was too heavy a burden 
for even the chief of sinners to bear. He looked up into 
the face of the Sympathetic Saviour, and humbly, and 
earnestly plead for mercy. Jesus said, Thy sins are for- 
given thee ; and the burden of guilt and condemnation 
was all removed. The sinner, instantly, became a saint, 
and rendered to the King all the glory of his salvation. 
Now none of the losses, or crosses of earth could de- 
stroy his peace of soul. Neither could the saddest dis- 
appointments, nor the deepest sorrows rob him of his 
cherished hope of heaven. Henceforth he will walk the 
earth, a sovereign, amid want, poverty and penury, if 



l6o THE WAYS OF THE KING. 

needs be, knowing that boundless stores of wealth await 
him, in the mansions of the blest. Such are the effects 
of the sin-pardoning, and soul-saving power of the King, 
in his wonderful work of regeneration. 

The most brilliant feats, and features of human life 
sink into insignificance, when compared with the mar- 
velous, and miraculous works of Jesus. At times, the 
fame of these mighty works filled the whole land. But, 
notwithstanding all he did and said, many rejected him, 
his words and his works. 

The ways of the King are without a parallel in the 
annals of history. No one else ever lived just such a 
grand life ; or died just such a triumphant death, as did 
Jesus of Nazareth. The sacrificing life, and sacrificial 
death of the King has enriched the whole world, and 
flooded millions of souls with the joys of salvation. No 
other individual ever walked through the same lowly 
valleys, or journeyed over the same exalted highways, 
that Jesus did. His ways, like his words and works, 
were peculiar to himself. 

The King began his weary journey, over the stony 
paths, and across the desert wastes of earth with tender 
feet, and a bleeding heart. At times, his steps were 
followed by rejoicing thousands, who hung in deepest 
silence on his precious words, and watched, with deep- 
est solicitude, his miraculous works. Wherever he 
went, in his public ministrations, the multitudes thronged 
around him, eager to catch a word, witness a miracle or 
receive a blessing. Sometimes, however, he journeyed, 
silently, and alone, over mountain wilds and desert 
wastes, in secret meditation, or sacred devotion. He 
often climbed the hills, and mountains of Palestine, in 



SEEKING SYMPATHY AND SALVATION. l6l 

the golden light of the morning; and as often descended 
into the fertile valleys and verdant vales, under the sun- 
set skies or starry heavens at night-fall. But often, 
during his public ministry, he was troubled with the 
most inveterate enemies, watched by secret spies, and 
blasphemed by the merciless rabble. But still, grace 
and gladness followed in his footsteps. Joy and grati- 
tude hovered round his pathway. And voices of praise, 
and forms of beauty often welcomed him, at his coming. 
His eager heart always burned with the sacred fires of 
love. Hence, his ways were crowded with exhibitions 
of his grace, and manifestations of his glory. But soon 
the shadows, of gathering tempests, began to fall upon 
his noble brow. And he gradually assumed the feat- 
ures, and functions of the Man of Sorrows. 

The King's countenance was veiled, at times, in 
deepest sadness, but he always wore a look of gentle- 
ness so infinitely tender and touching, that the multitudes 
of young and old, rich and poor were constantly drawn 
to him for sympathy and salvation. He fed the hungry 
in the desert, and healed the halt on the highway. He 
went from city to city, blessing the needy, and seeking 
and saving the lost. His time was spent largely among 
the poor toiling classes of earth. He loved to mingle 
among those who had neither wealth, honor nor 
office in the world. But, during the noon-tide of his 
ministry, all classes thronged his pathway in such vast 
multitudes, that even his enemies said, The world has 
gone after him. The laboring and heavy-ladened, of 
every class, were always objects of his mercy. His 
greatest blessings were reserved for those oppressed by 
sin. It was a part of his divine mission to bring com- 



1 62 THE MAN OF SORROWS, A SACRED MYSTEK* r . 

fort and consolation to others, though himself a Man of 
Sorrows, and acquainted with grief. While walking 
himself, through the valley, and shadow of death, 
he was hanging out a beacon-light for the world. 
It does seem that in his deepest mysteries, sometimes, 
lay hidden his richest blessings. And beneath his 
mightiest sorrows, were often found his matchless mer- 
cies. The Man of Sorrows was, himself, a sacred mys- 
tery to the world. With all their prejudice, hatred 
and unbelief, he found his way to the hearts of men, 
saved their souls and sealed them heirs of heaven. 

The King's ways were indeed wonderful. He was 
the Honored Guest in a princely mansion yesterday. 
To-day he is the Humble Visitor at the poor man's 
cottage. To-morrow, left at the mercy of an ungrateful 
world, he has not where to lay his sacred head. He 
was driven from Bethleham, the place of his birth. He 
was expelled from Nazareth, the home of his youth. 
He was spurned from Capernaum, his residence by 
adoption. He journeyed to Jerusalem, where he was 
betrayed ; and bore his cross to Calvary, where he was 
crucified, as the Rejected King of the Jews. This 
Peasant King wore, in all his travels, a peasant's garb. 
No patriarchal robes mantled his broad shoulders. No 
silver sandals clasped his weary feet. And no golden 
tunic graced his royal brow. On his body were the 
marks of sin ; yet, in his person were to be found 
brightness without a spot, and purity without a crime. 
But he took upon his soul the burden of a still greater 
agony ; and marched with firm, and fearless step to 
Golgotha, to meet its dreadful penalty. 

John the Baptist was the King's forerunner. This 



THE VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS. 1 63 

was to the Jews an age of doubt, a time of uncertainty — 
a transition period. The sceptre had departed from 
Judah, and they anticipated some mighty revolution. 
Crime was almost universal, and no remedy had been 
found for the ruin it had wrought. Iniquity had well 
nigh run its race, and reached its goal. The voice of 
the wilderness, in its calls to repentance, was stirring to 
its inmost depth the great heart of Israel. The Har- 
binger brought with him a strange, but hopeful message. 
His preaching was heart-searching, and intensely prac- 
tical. The lessons he inculcated were deep in their 
moral significance, and universal in their spiritual appli- 
cation. All classes thronged to his ministry and listened 
with eagerness to his solemn warnings, and stern rebukes, 
as he endeavored to prepare the way of the Lord, by 
making his paths straight. But while the people mused, 
in their hearts, concerning the true mission of this man 
of the wilderness, he informed them of the silent, but 
majestic presence of the King of Glory. 

Jesus came, and demanded baptism at the hands of 
John, that the law might be fulfilled, before he entered 
upon his priestly functions. The wild prophet, who had 
confronted kings with rebuke, and unmasked the proud 
Pharisees with indignation, felt his lofty bearing fall in 
the silent and sinless presence of the Unknown Naza- 
rene. He acknowledged at once his inferiority ; but 
finally submitted to the Saviour's request, and baptized 
him with the waters of the Jordan. And, as the King 
went up from the waters, the Spirit descended, in shape 
like a dove, and lit upon his head, in the presence of 
all the people, as a token of his Messiahship; while a 
voice from heaven proclaimed him, the Beloved Son, 



164 THE TERRIBLE TEMPTATION. 

in whom the Father was well pleased. Thus Jesus 
was initiated into his priestly office. 

Peace, pleasure and plenty rilled the whole valley of 
the sacred Jordan. The most luxuriant vegetation 
covered the fertile plains with blooming beauty. From 
these scenes of pleasure and fields of plenty, the King 
was carried forth by the Spirit, into the Wilderness of 
Temptation. Here, in a most desolate region — a weird 
and demon-haunted solitude — a hot and horrible desert 
waste — a wilderness of caverns and gorges, environed 
with death and desolation, the Saviour was sorely 
tempted by Satan. The story of this mysterious tempta- 
tion is no mere allegory, but a sad reality. The great 
struggle was personal, and powerful. It was humanity's 
Best Friend in personal conflict with man's most power- 
ful foe. The great battle was fought, and the matchless 
victory was most worthily won. Jesus met, and foiled 
the mighty tempter, in the wilds of the wilderness. 
After this signal victory, the ordinary temptations of 
life floated over his sinless soul, as lightly as the mists 
of the morning sail over the azure blue of heaven. 
This temptation is not without its special lessons of 
life for us. It shows us how a calm, strong and fear- 
less man may overcome, under great disadvantages. 
It also teaches us how the weakest may obtain strength, 
which will ripen into victory over the strongest foe. 
With a proper use of the weapons it places in our hands, 
the weakest are made strong, and the most timid need 
not fear the combined powers of darkness. 

The King, accompanied by his three favorite apostles, 
journeyed toward the memorable Mount of Transfigura- 
tion, and ascended its lofty height. It is not certain 



THE MOUNT OF TRANSFIGURATION. 1 65 

whether Mount Tabor, Mount Hermon or some other lofty 
peak, was the scene of this most wonderful event. Tradi- 
tion, however, points to Mount Tabor, and crowns it with 
the honor of being the place where the King revealed so 
much of his celestial glory to mortal man. It was even- 
ing's calm and silent hour, when he climbed the mount- 
ain slopes with his chosen witnesses. The grandest 
scenes of nature surrounded them ; and refreshed their 
weary souls with thoughts, and aspirations kindred to 
those of angels. In such a frame of mind as this, they 
kneeled upon the sacred Mount in humble, grateful de- 
votion. Their prayers, the sweet incense of loving 
hearts, were offered up. Then, according to oriental 
custom, the disciples wrapped their abbas around them, 
lay down upon the green grass, in the open air, and 
were soon cradled in the lap of nature's sweet restorer — 
balmy sleep. 

But while the apostles slept and slumbered, the Mas- 
ter was suddenly transfigured. He was crowned with 
light. A vision of surpassing beauty, mantled his 
lovely form. And a diadem, of glory, circled his ma- 
jestic brow. The apostles awoke, to behold the King in 
his unparalleled glory. His countenance shone above 
the brightness of the sun. His garments were whiter 
than the driven snow. And his entire person was 
wrapped in a perfect halo of radiant glory. With him 
also appeared Moses and Elias, clothed with all the 
beauty and luster of celestial beings. Oh ! what a won- 
derful scene burst, in all its glory, upon the enraptured 
vision of the apostles, at the moment of their waking. 
There, in the darkness of the night, made darker still 
by the blackness of sin shone the glorified form of their 



1 66 FUTURE RECOGNITION, 

Gracious King, the Representative of the Gospel ; and 
in the same flood of golden glory, were the celestial 
presence of the representatives of the Law and the 
Prophets. What a grand trio ! the Lawgiver of Sinai, 
the great Prophet of Carmel and the Messiah of the 
World, all blended in perfect harmony. The law kept, 
the prophecy fulfilled, - and the Gospel confirmed! The 
darkness of Sinai, and the mysteries of Carmel were all 
aglow with the glories of Calvary. The three were 
there talking together of the King's decease, and the 
glory that should follow. No wonder Peter said, Mas- 
ter it is good for us to be here ; and desired to erect 
three tabernacles for them. 

Among the many precious lessons taught us by this 
memorable event, we will notice but one in this connec- 
tion. This is taught very plainly, by implication, in 
many passages of scripture ; but in this event, it shines 
forth from a cloudless firmament, telling us that we shall 
know each other in our glorified bodies. It is a practi- 
cal demonstration of future recognition. No problem 
could be more definitely solved. The cravings of human 
nature demand future recognition, as a certainty. The 
Bible responds to this demand, in all its assurances that 
the resurrection will reunite our souls and bodies, with 
their wonted individuality, and personal identity. The 
glorious anticipation of a reunion with our dear, departed 
ones, are infinitely sweeter and richer, when enhanced 
with the universal conception, or glowing with the con- 
fident expectation of not only seeing, but also knowing 
them in the better world. 

Sometimes we fail, at first, to recognize our dearest 
friends on earth, when long absence has changed their 



AFTER WONDERFUL CHANGES. 1 67 

forms, and refashioned their features. So it may be, 
when we meet some of them in heaven. They will have 
undergone wonderful changes. When we see our aged 
fathers and mothers in glory, they will not be tottering, 
with faltering steps, along the golden-paved streets of 
the New Jerusalem. But glowing, with heavenly grace, 
and buoyant with eternal life, they will bound along over 
the celestial highways, with all the beauty and energy 
of spiritual manhood and womanhood. And our darling 
babes, rosebuds plucked in the spring of life, may be so 
changed by the transition to, and the growth of heaven, 
that we will not, at first, recognize the dear little, loved 
ones. Attendant angels may have to point them out, 
before we can know them, in their new forms of beauty, 
and fullness of life. But if so, we will not be the less 
happy, when our eyes are gladdened with beholding the 
lovely faces, and glorified forms of these our, at last, 
recognized parents and children. Yes, thank God, we 
will all know each other there. For this knowledge is 
an element absolutely essential to the existence of that 
joy, which is to be so unspeakably great, and infinitely 
full of celestial glory. 

The heavenly communion, on the mountain heights, 
had ended ; and the Royal Master, with his trio of com- 
panions, had wound his way down the deep descent 
into the low level of human life, at its mighty base. 
Here were assembled the eager multitudes, waiting 
anxiously the King's coming. An event had just oc- 
curred, in their midst, which alarmed his disciples, and 
agitated the great assembly. The disciples had failed 
to cure a demoniac boy ; and were withering under the 
innuendos of the scribes and Pharisees. At this juncture 



1 68 INFINITELY TENDER, BECAUSE INFINITELY PURE. 

of the pending crisis, the thronging multitudes caught 
sight of the Mighty Nazarene, and greeted him with 
their warmest salutations. Jesus was informed of the 
circumstance by the father ; who now presented his boy 
to him, praying his divine interposition in his behalf. 
His malady was, indeed, a fearful one. His case was 
too desperate and deadly for ordinary means to avail 
any thing. But, at the words of the King, though with 
a desperate struggle, the evil spirit came out of the 
boy ; and he was soon clothed, and in his right mind. 

In this memorable event, we are taught two important 
lessons. First, that there are forms of evil so deep- 
seated, and inveterate, that nothing short of fasting and 
prayer, upon the part of God's people, can ever free the 
victims from eternal death. Second, that to a perfect 
faith, linked with divine power, all things are possible, 
which fall within the range of God's will. 

The Pharisees, at one time, that they might, if possi- 
ble, entrap the King, dragged degraded misery to the bar 
of mildest justice ; and opened the most flagrant guilt, 
before the eyes of stainless innocence. This cold, pitiless 
brutality was extremely provoking to One, who was in- 
finitelty tender, because infinitely pure. Jesus loved those, 
whom others hated ; praised those whom others scorned, 
and comforted those, whom others crushed. This divine 
tenderness and deep compassion won for him the most 
passionate devotion of some, and the highest admiration 
of many. On this occasion, as usual, the Just Judge 
was also merciful. Having foiled the crafty designs of 
his enemies, in a reaction upon their own guilty souls, 
which drove them from his sacred presence, Mercy 
meekly said to misery, Go sin no more. 



THE CRY OF TEN LEPERS. 1 69 

On the Kings last journey, from Galilee to Jerusalem, 
the plaintive cry of ten lepers greeted his ears, and 
touched his tender, sympthetic heart. The voice of 
misery again found its answer, in the echo of mercy. 
He bade them go show themselves to the priest for 
ceremonial cleansing, that they might enjoy all the rites 
and privileges of social and religious life. At the sound 
of his potent voice, they felt the strong currents of pufe 
life-blood coursing through their veins, with its wonted 
energy and vitality. 

But only one of these healed lepers returned, to 
give thanks to the Merciful Nazarene ; and he was a 
Samaritan. Jesus rewarded him. He also pardoned 
his sins, and saved his soul. This event teaches us, that 
temporal blessings are appreciated by a small minority 
of men ; that we are more likely to call for divine aid, 
when afflicted in body, than when burdened in soul; 
that greater blessings are sure to follow gratitude for 
smaller favors, and that the voice of true supplication, 
may always find its counterpart in the salvation of the 
sinner. 

Pilate, a short time before the crucifixion of the King, 
fearing an insurrection of the people, says he resolved on 
adopting a measure, which promised to reconcile the 
enemies of the Nazarene, and establish the tranquility 
of the city. So he wrote to Jesus, requesting an inter- 
view with him, at the Pretorium. Jesus came, and Pilate 
trembled from head to foot. In referring to this inter- 
view with Jesus, Pilate wrote the Emperor of Rome, as 
follows : You know that in my veins flows the Spanish, 
mixed with Roman blood, as incapable of fear, as it is 
of puerile emotion. But when the Nazarene made his 



170 JESUS BEFORE PILATE. 

appearance I was walking in my basilic ; my feet re- 
mained fastened as with an iron hand to the marble 
pavement, and I trembled on every limb, as a guilty cul- 
prit, though he was calm — the Nazarene — calm as inno- 
cence. He stopped when he came to me, and, by a 
signal, seemed to say, I am here. * * * At last- I 
said to him, Jesus — and my tongue faltered — Jesus of 
Nazareth, I have granted you for the last three years 
ample freedom of speech, nor do I regret it. * * * 
I am glad of having allowed you that liberty, of which 
you are so worthy. However, I must not conceal from 
you the fact that your discourses have raised up against 
you powerful and inveterate enemies. This is not sur- 
prising. Socrates had his enemies, and he fell a victim 
to their hatred. But yours are doubly incensed against 
you, both on account of your sayings against them, and 
the liberty also which I have extended towards you. They 
have even accused me of being indirectly leagued with 
you, for the purpose of depriving the Hebrews of the 
little civil power which Rome has left them. My 
request — I do no say order — is, that you be more cir- 
cumspect in the future, and more tender in arousing the 
pride of your enemies, lest they raise against you the 
stupid populace, and compel me to use the instruments 
of justice. The Nazarene calmly replied : Prince of the 
earth, your words proceed not from true wisdom. Say 
to the torrent, Stop in the midst of your mountain home, 
because it will uproot the trees of the valley, and the 
torrent will answer you, that it must obey the laws of 
the Creator. God alone knows whither flows the torrent. 
Verily I say unto you, before the Rose of Sharon blos- 
soms, the blood of the Just shall be spilt. I replied 



NO ASYLUM FOR THE SON OF MAN. 171 

with emotion, Your blood shall not be spilt. You are 
more precious in my estimation, on account of your wis- 
dom, than all the turbulent and proud Pharisees, who 
abuse the freedom granted them by the Romans, con- 
spire against Caesar and construe our bounty into fear. 
Insolent wretches ! * * * I will protect you against 
them. My Pretorium is open to you as an asylum — it 
is a sacred asylum. Jesus, carelessly shaking his head, 
said, with his wonted grace, and a divine smile, When the 
day shall have come, there will be no asylum for the 
Son of Man, neither on earth, nor yet under the earth. 
The asylum for the Just is there (pointing to the heav- 
ens). That which is written in the books of the prophets 
must be accomplished. I mildly answered, Young man, 
you oblige me to convert my request into an order. 
The safety of the province, which has been confided to 
my care, requires it ; you must observe more modera- 
tion in your discourses. Do not infringe. You know 
my orders. May happiness attend you. Farewell. To 
which Jesus meekly replied : Prince of the earth, I came 
not to bring war into the world, but peace, love and 
charity. I was born on the same day on which Augustus 
Caesar gave peace to the Roman world. Persecution 
proceeds not from me. I expect it from others, and will 
meet it in obedience to the will of my Father, who hath 
shown me the way. Refrain, therefore, your worldly 
prudence. It is not in your power to arrest the Victim 
at the foot of the Tabernacle of expiation. And, so 
saying, he disappeared like a bright shadow behind the 
curtains of the basalic. 

At one time, the King traversed the regions of Tyre 
and Sidon with his apostles. On this perilous journey, 



172 HIS WAY UPON THE WATERS. 

he healed the Syro-Phenician woman's daughter, the 
deaf man of Decapolis, and did many other wonderful 
works. 

At another time, the way of the King was upon the 
waters of Galilee. Omnipotence slept on the rolling 
waves. In the hour of danger and darkness, his dis- 
ciples awoke him with their calls for deliverance. The 
King's voice was heard upon the troubled waters. The 
words of Jesus went floating out again, over the buffet- 
ing billows of the sea, and there was a great calm. So 
we may be called to pass through the moanings of a 
night-blast of sorrow, as we are sailing silently through 
the sunshine, and shadows of time, towards the shifting 
shores of eternity. But, if we hail the King of Glory on 
our way, the storms will soon be over, the darkness for- 
ever passed, and the day-break of eternal life will soon 
light up the distant shores of an endless immortality. 

But, a short time prior to his apprehension, the King 
answered the call of the bereaved sisters, went to Beth- 
any, and raised his friend Lazarus from the dead. Be- 
reavement always touched his tender heart with deepest 
sympathy. A thrill of emotion swept over his entire 
being, and a flood of tears streamed from his weeping 
eyes, as he approached the entrance to the dark and 
dismal cave, where one of his dearest friends slept the 
silent sleep of death. The stone was rolled away. Jesus 
raised his eyes to heaven, thanked the Father for the 
confirmation of his prayer, and with a gentle voice awoke 
the dead sleeper, tradition says, to the enjoyment of 
thirty more years of light and life in this world. 

The Jewish authorities now claimed that a Great Crim- 
inal was running at large, whose words and works en- 



A MATCHLESS MIRACLE. iy$ 

dangered the safety of both church and state. So after 
the resurrection of Lazarus, the Sanhedrim met in great 
perplexity. They dreaded the result of this matchless 
miracle ; and hence, with treacherous purpose, sought to 
lay hands upon their Coveted Prey. Caiaphas and An- 
nas were dividing the functions of a disgraceful priest- 
hood at this time. In the midst of their evil counsels, 
Caiaphas advised them to sacrifice this One Victim, in- 
nocent or guilty, in order to save the whole people. 
The Council readily accepted his wicked proposal, and 
the secret fiat went forth at once, that the Despised 
Nazarene must die. The King was conscious of their 
deadly designs, so he retired to Ephraim to await the 
fullness of time, before he would submit to death at their 
hands. 

When the time of the great Paschal Feast drew near, 
Jesus saw the pilgrim bands marching toward Jerusalem. 
So he left his place of retreat, and journeyed with a 
Galilean caravan to the Holy City. The King walked 
alone, in advance of his disciples, in mournful medita- 
tion, with all the majesty of infinite meekness. At 
length he paused, and told them the sad, sad story of 
his arrest, trial and crucifixion, by the rulers of the Jews. 
But they did not comprehend him. They were still 
dreaming of earthly thrones, and golden diadems, while 
the Master's thoughts were associated with the bloody 
cross, and the thorny crown. 

They journeyed on. By the way, near Jericho, the 
city of palms, sat blind Bartemius, with his companion in 
misery, begging alms of the passing multitudes. Being 
informed that Jesus of Nazareth was in the company, 
they raised their voices in cries for mercy. He called 



174 JESUS AT JERICHO. 

them to him, opened their eyes, and they followed the 
rejoicing multitudes, glorifying God with full hearts, and 
happy souls. 

The great caravan rested at Jericho. The King was 
the Welcome Guest of the honored little publican. 
Zacheus had long desired to see the Prince of Prophets. 
When Jesus unexpectedly called his name, and bade 
him hasten down from the sycamore tree, it must have 
been with great joy, that he led the Messiah to his own 
house. But the multitude murmured, because the King 
put up with the rich little publican. However, his was 
a mission of love to the lost : and, with one touch of 
that love, he unsealed the little man's heart, opened his 
full purse to the poor and brought life and salvation to 
him and his household. 

The caravan marched from Jericho, the shaded city ; 
and the King led the way through the long, sultry, bar- 
ren gorge which led to Jerusalem. They reached the 
end of their journey six days before the great Passover; 
and Jesus put up again at the honored home of Bethany. 
He had often resorted to this holy, happy home, where 
he was a welcome and most highly Honored Guest — the 
distinguished, and most Royal Visitor. 

The next evening the King's friends gave him a sup- 
per. They regarded it a privilege, to feast the Noblest 
Guest that ever graced the festal board on earth. The 
supper was given at the house of Simon the leper. 
The disciples were also invited. The Chief Guest, and 
his distinguished companions, came in at length, and 
surrounded the festal board. Jesus occupied the place 
of honor. Lazarus was also present at this sacred fes- 
tival ; and many believed on Jesus because of him. So 



A TIMELY ANOINTING. I 75 

the rulers, at Jerusalem, held a consultation, as to how 
they might best get rid of this living witness to the 
resurrection power of their Rejected Messiah. 

One of a most important series of sacred events, 
which cluster around the closing scenes of his waning 
life, occurred while they were feasting. It was the 
anointing of the King to his burial. Mary came in with 
an alabaster box of precious, and costly ointment ; and 
poured the sweet perfume over the head, and feet of 
her Blessed Master. And while the delicious fragrance 
filled the entire house, as an evidence of her gratitude, 
love and devotion, she wiped his weary, wayworn feet 
with her long, flowing tresses of golden hair. 

Mary was censured by Judas, whose greatest vice was 
avarice ; and who placed a less estimate upon his Mas- 
ter, and bargained, it is thought, that same night to be- 
tray him for thirty pieces of silver. Others regarded it 
as a useless expenditure ; thought it too rich a luxury 
for a passing moment, but were ready to pity, and for- 
give the rash act, as they regarded it. None but the 
more spiritual present could appreciate this free-will 
offering. But Jesus spoke out in Mary's defense. The 
King said the anointing was timely, and appropriate ; 
and that it should serve as a memorial of her devotion, 
through all coming generations. History bears the 
most sacred testimony to the truthfulness of his words 
of approval. We can not over-estimate the value of 
such fervid devotion. Its gifts never surpass the love 
of the giver, or the worthiness of him to whom they are 
given. The most precious gift, to Jesus, is always 
the one which costs the giver most, be it a mite, or a 
million. It is what it costs us, that gives value to our 



176 THE HUMBLE PROCESSION. 

donations, services and sacrifices, and makes them most 
acceptable to the King. Then nothing should be 
deemed too costly to give cheerfully to him, who gave 
himself for us. Our very best time and talents should 
be consecrated most affectionately to Jesus. 

There was a general belief, that the King would be 
present at the Paschal Feast. But none knew that the 
Lamb of God was to be slain, as the Sacred Sacrifice of 
that memorable Passover. The arrival of the Galilean 
Prophet was to be an event of the most intense interest. 
When it was known on Sunday morning, that he would 
enter the Holy City that day, many were ready to go 
out to meet, and welcome him as their King. He left 
Bethany on foot, followed by the multitudes. But ere 
he reached Jerusalem, they lifted him upon a colt, and 
the triumphal procession began. It was no seditious, 
or political movement, but rather the outburst of relig- 
ious joy. It was not the enthusiasm of ambitious triumph, 
but the simple exultation of his despised disciples. The 
King rode, not upon a war-horse, but on an animal, the 
symbol of peace. He entered the city, not as a mighty 
conqueror with the spoils of war, but as a meek and 
Lowly King, bringing the blessings of salvation, and the 
hopes of heaven. 

The procession paused. The King wept, for the 
second time, over the doomed city. He uttered his 
prophetic lamentation of her coming destruction. He 
saw that she knew not the time of her visitation, and 
would not heed the things which belonged to her peace, 
that she might indeed be the joy of the whole earth. 

The multitudes moved on. The pilgrims, at Jerusa- 
lem, heard the glad shouts of the coming company, and 



JESUS IN THE HOLY TEMPLE. 177 

streamed out to meet the humble procession. There 
was a general jubilee. Palms of victory were waved in 
the air ; olive branches of peace were strewn in the way, 
and the garments of rejoicing multitudes were scattered 
along his path, while thousands of voices swelled the 
song of welcome to the triumphant King of Glory. 
Even the children joined the swelling chorus, with shouts 
of hosannas to the Son of David. The haughty Phari- 
sees, mortified at these Messianic, and kingly titles, 
commanded the Master to rebuke his disciples, but were 
sorely rebuked themselves in his gentle reply. 

The procession reached the gates of the city in tri- 
umph. The multitudes dispersed. Jesus dismounted, 
entered the Holy Temple, purged it, and began once 
more his merciful ministrations within its sacred walls. 
Sufferers came, and were healed. Sinners sought him, 
and were saved. The authorities listened to his gra- 
cious words, witnessed his wonderful works and feared 
the unknown results. But still they despised, rejected 
and condemned their most Merciful King. The chil- 
dren of the Temple, in their innocent delight, prolonged 
the glad hosannas which had welcomed him to their city. 
But the Pharisees indignantly called his attention to 
them, only to meet with another shameful defeat in his 
apt reply, Yea, have ye not heard, Out of the mouths 
of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise. 

At this time, some Greeks came to Jesus. An inter- 
esting tradition says, they were the emissaries of the 
king of Edessa, .who sent them to seek healing in his 
name; and tender Jesus an asylum in his comfortable 
little city. This legend adds, that though Jesus declined 
his offer, yet he rewarded his faith by writing him a 
12 



1 78 THE DAY OF PARABLES. 

letter, healing his disease and giving life to him and all 
his house. Thus the Day of Triumph ended ; and 
Jesus took the twelve at night-fall, and returned to 
Bethany. 

On Monday morning, the King came early to the city, 
and again entered the Temple. A stately, and most 
formidable deputation from the great Sanhedrim waited 
upon him. They hoped to overawe the Despised Naza- 
rene with their flowing robes, imposing presence and 
commanding address. They at once demanded his au- 
thority, for teaching and healing in the Holy Temple. 
Upon what authority do you, a poor, illiterate Nazarene, 
assume the faith and functions of a Rabbi, and Prophet 
in Israel? His reply confounded them. Was the bap- 
tism of John from heaven, or of men ? But they would 
not answer, save to their own shame and confusion. We 
can not tell. So Jesus dismissed them, by declining to 
give any authority, save that which they found in his 
own Divine Personage. This was another terrible 
wound, which his enemies would never forgive, nor 
forget. This defeated deputation was forced to the 
back-ground ; and Jesus continued instructing the people. 
He spoke in parables that all could understand. In 
these parables he showed the Jewish hierarchy, that 
they were guilty of lying lip-service, blind presumption 
and wicked rebellion, in their shameful rejection, and 
contemplated crucifixion of their Messianic King. He 
forced them to admit, that God could in justice deprive 
them of their exalted privileges, and give their vine- 
yard to the Gentiles. These things so enraged them, 
that they would have rushed violently upon him, had they 
not feared the people. But night closed the Day of 



THE DAY OF TEMPTATIONS. 1 79 

Parables ; and the King returned, unmolested, to his 
village home ; while his enemies met again, in dark 
counsel, to see how they could best accomplish his 
speedy destruction. 

The next morning ushered in the Day of" Tempta- 
tions. Jesus arose early, and with his apostles entered, 
for the last time, the courts of the Holy Temple. He 
was barely seated, before the Herodians and Pharisees 
approached him, with the strategy of a deeply-laid 
scheme for his destruction. These Herodians were 
Herod's satraps — mere provincial courtiers, basking in 
the starlight of a petty tyranny. Their existence had 
only a political significance, for they stood outside the 
current of religious life, in open defiance to all the Mo- 
saic institutions. The simple fact, that the Pharisees 
would tolerate partnership with such characters for a 
moment, shows how deep, and deadly their hatred was 
for the Humble Nazarene. As though a dispute had 
risen between them, these crafty Herodians, with their 
wonted cunning, courtesy and compliments, desired the 
Great Prophet to decide the question, as to whether or 
not it was lawful to pay tribute to Caesar? They hoped, 
if he answered in the affirmative, the multitudes would 
forsake, and help to slay him ; but, if in the negative, 
that he would secure the ill-will of the Roman authori- 
ties, who would willingly put him to death. But their 
hypocrisy was unmasked, and their hopes soon blasted. 
They admitted that their national coin bore the image 
and superscription of the Emperor, and consequently 
was the acknowledged symbol of his legal authority. 
Therefore Jesus commanded them to render to Caesar 
his dues, as an earthly ruler ; and to God, that which so 



l8o THE SEVEN-FOLD WIDOW, 

justly belongs to him, as their Eternal Sovereign. Hu- 
miliated by this unexpected failure, they smothered their 
malice, and reluctantly retired. 

The Sadducees, hoping better success would attend 
their efforts, now ventured into his divine presence, 
with their silly question about the seven-fold widow, and 
desired him to tell whose wife she would be in the 
morning of the resurrection. They thought to array their 
entire sect against him, by calling him out on this sub- 
ject. But a gentle reproof, setting forth the true nature 
of the resurrection body, and the angelic relation of the 
redeemed in heaven, silenced at once these supercilious 
Sadducees. 

But still unwilling to give up the struggle for mastery, 
they sent a learned scribe to the Saviour, with a ques- 
tion upon which the two great Rabbinical schools were 
disagreed. These schools had added immensely to both 
the ceremonial and moral laws of Moses. They had 
reached the conclusion, that they aggregated six hundred 
and thirteen. But which was the greatest command- 
ment, of all that number of affirmative and negative pre- 
cepts? This was the question, which the conceited 
scribe proposed to Jesus. He expected his answer to 
alienate one or the other of these strong elements from 
his following. But not so. Jesus summed up the whole 
decalogue, in love to God and man, saying, On these 
two commandments hang all the Law and Prophets. 
And none could object to his answer, though entirely 
foreign to the purpose of his enemies. This was their 
last effort to entrap the Saviour by the words which fell 
in wisdom from his sacred lips. 

The King now put one question, bearing directly upon 



AND THE SEVEN-FOLD WOE. l8l 

their Messianic hopes, to his learned and arrogant in- 
terrogators. But their superficial knowledge failed to 
subserve their purposes, on this all-important subject. 
So they laid their hands upon their mouths in silence 
and in shame, before the great multitudes. But the 
bitter venom, of their malignant hatred, had not been 
extracted by the long forbearance of the Saviour. The 
midnight darkness of their souls had not been illumined 
by the meridian light of his matchless wisdom. They 
courted their own blindness, denied their gross igno- 
rance, and would not repent of their most heinous sins. 
Their purpose to destroy the Innocent Nazarene was 
irrevocably fixed in their wicked hearts. Infinite love 
had failed to win them for Jesus. There was no longer 
any hope of their reconciliation to the King. They 
were stereotyped in unrepentant malic*', and must be 
doomed to eternal banishment. Stern justice was now 
summoned to the front. And in the audience of all the 
people, Jesus rolled over their guilty heads, with the 
weight of a crushing thunderbolt, his seven-fold woe 
unto those scribes, Pharisees and hypocrites, who 
sought to compass his death. In utter condemnation of 
the past, present and prophetic future of their wicked 
lives, the Divine Prophet solemnly pronounced the 
Dreadful Denunciation upon them, and their doomed 
city. He hung the purple cloud of divine retribution, 
in prophetic vision, over the beauty, and glory of Jeru- 
salem ; and bade them listen in dread and terror at the 
gathering elements of destruction, which would soon 
burst in fury on the defenseless heads of her unhappy 
sons and daughters. 

And, on leaving the sacred precincts of the Holy 



1 82 DISCOURSE ON THE LAST THINGS. 

Temple, Retiring Deity, with one prophetic breath, lev- 
eled its massive walls and magnificent splendors all in 
the dust. Thirty-five years later found it smoldering in 
the ashes of its own destruction. Then silently and 
sadly the sacred company turned their backs upon, and 
bade a final farewell to the great building, crossed the 
Kidron, climbed to the summit of the Mount of Olives, 
and sat down to rest. 

The scene was well adapted to inspire the Saviour 
with the most solemn thoughts, Deep down in the val- 
ley beneath him lay the sad and silent Sea of Death. 
Just behind him lay the Holy City, beloved and glorious 
even in her sins. At his feet slept the lonely garden of 
Gethsemane, so soon to be the sombre scene of his first 
great agony. The gathering shades of the evening 
deepened the gloom of the hour ; while the setting sun 
of his natural life threw a still deeper darkness across 
the sad scenes of his earthly pilgrimage. Amid the si- 
lent shadows of. such a sacred solemnity, the Saviour de- 
livered his farewell discourse to his sorrowing disciples, 
on the Last Things. In this sermon he showed them 
two distinct horizons, and pointed out, by the most fear- 
ful signs and parables, two of the world's most memora- 
ble events — the fall of the Jewish polity, or the last days 
of that wicked generation, with its coming retribution ; 
and the end of time, or the final account of the race, at 
the dreadful judgment of the Great Day. In his sad 
refrain, the King referred again to his betrayal and cru- 
cifixion, then but two days in the future. So closed his 
last matchless discourse, and so ended the last day of 
his public ministry. And they arose, and walked to 
Bethany to await the night of his darkest agony. Could 



THREE YEARS OF VARIED ACTIVITIES. 1 83 

we but trace the footsteps of the King, from place to 
place, day in and day out, as he went forth on his mis- 
sions of mercy, during his ministry, we would have three 
years of varied, and almost incessant labor, the crowded 
activities of which would fill our souls with wonder and 
amazement. But now the words of the King's public 
ministry have all been spoken ; the works of his divine 
mission have all been finished ; the ways of humanity 
have all been trodden ; his time is fully come, and he is 
ready to place heaven's seal upon all his words, works 
and ways, in his own sacrificial death upon the cruel 
cross. 




'—"£-- -:_— 



THE CRUCIFIXION OF THE KING. 



■ » , . «>^» 



Chapter VIII. 



They * * * crucified the Lord of Glory. — i Cor. 2: 8. 



The apprehension, trial and crucifixion of the King 
of Glory was the most disgraceful and diabolical tragedy 
that history has ever recorded. Death upon the cross 
was, of all the cruel executions of antiquity, the most 
terrible, and inhuman. And the shameful execution of 
the Innocent Nazarene was marked with rare excep- 
tions to all other crucifixions. Such cruelties, as were 
then and there exhibited, knew no reverence, and felt no 
compassion for the Innocent Victim. This story of the 
cross, burdened as it is with sadness, loaded with sor- 
row and crowned with the bitterest agonies, is by far 
the most thrilling story of all ages. It is the story of 
the world. It is a divine tragedy, without a parallel in 
the archives of the universe. It is the most memorable 
event ever marked by the shadows of time. It was the 
consummation of the bloody sacrifices of ages. It was 
the redemption of the world. It was the Author of 
Life, hanging upon the cross, in the agonies of death. 

The Passover, a great Jewish festival, was at hand. 
Multitudes flowed together. The Holy City was crowded, 
packed and jammed. Pilgrims, from every part of the 

Holy Land, and Jewish wanderers, from every nation 

( 184 ) 



THE APPREHENSION OF THE KING. 1 85 

under heaven, were present to take part in the great 
national festival. The rulers of the Jews availed them- 
selves of the popular exultation, which always manifested 
itself, among the vile rabble, during the solemnities of a 
Passover. They also employed the treasure of the Holy 
Temple, in bribing the lewd and licentious fellows to 
cry for the blood of the Hated Nazarene. 

The apprehension of the King is the first scene in 
the great tragedy. The indignant hatred of his ene- 
mies knew no bounds, after his seven-fold woe was pro- 
nounced against them. They were determined to com- 
pass his death at the earliest possible date. To perfect 
their plans, and accomplish their object, at once, they 
met on Tuesday night, in the palace of Caiaphas the 
high-priest. It was a motley and indignant mob, met 
in council. The Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, priests, 
Herodians and elders of Israel, with all their differences, 
and hatred lost, for the time bein^, in their common 
and intense hatred for the Young Rabbi of Nazareth, 
were uniting their efforts, in an unholy alliance, for the 
destruction of the World's Messiah. From the deep, 
and dark revenge of such an ungodly alliance, or combi- 
nation, no earthly power could save their Virtuous Vic- 
tim. They decreed that he should die without delay. 
But not by violence, for fear of offending the multitudes. 
The treacherous Judas was at their disposal, possibly 
leagued with them in this dark and deadly council. 

But they were doomed to disappointment, The King 
did not return to Jerusalem the next day, as they ex- 
pected. The multitudes listened in vain for the sound 
of his matchless voice in the courts of the Holy Temple. 
He was among the hills, resting in silence, or wrestling 



1 86 THE SACRED FESTIVAL. 

in prayer, preparatory to the great struggle with 
death. 

But the next evening he sent two of his apostles in 
advance, to prepare for the observance of the Paschal 
Feast. Still later, accompanied by the residue of the 
twelve, he entered the city, and went to the room where 
they ate the Passover. Here Jesus pointed Judas out 
as the traitor ; and bade him do his treacherous work 
quickly. Here also the King girded himself, and washed 
his disciples' feet, teaching them the lesson of humilia- 
tion and self-denial for the good of others. Here, too, 
the Savior instituted the holy Eucharist, to be ob- 
served in memory of his anticipated sufferings and death, 
to the end of time. The dark clouds, which had settled 
upon their heads, glowed for a time, with the glories of 
sunset's radiant splendors. The Master spoke many 
words of comfort and warning to his faithful servants ; 
referred to the prophecy which long since had numbered 
him with transgressors ; and closed the sacred festival 
with a prayer for the disciples of all ages. 

Then they arose, left the guest-chamber, stepped out 
into the silence of that oriental night, and started on 
their moonlight march to sad Gethsemane. They 
passed out through one of the city gates, crossed the 
Kidron and climbed the gentle slope, which led to the 
Garden of Prayer. As they journeyed on, under a mys- 
terious weight of woe, the Master told them plainly that 
their Shepherd should be smitten, and his sheep be 
scattered abroad. He spoke of their becoming offended 
in him that night ; and then listened in mournful silence 
to their vows of fidelity, so soon to be broken. 

But they reached the scene of his first great agony ; 



IN THE BLOODY GARDEN. 1 87 

passed into the Garden, and the shadow of a great sor- 
row fell upon them. The King knew that nothing re- 
mained for him on earth, save the most Litter physical 
torture, the most intense mental anguish and the deepest 
possible soul-agony, until he expired amid the death- 
throes of Calvary. 

The curtain rises, and the terrible tragedy begins. 
The site is a beautiful, but lonely Garden, deeply shaded 
with olive trees, and fragrant with sweetest perfumes. 
The spectators are the silent stars, the silver)- moon 
and the listening angels. The actors are, the Innocent 
Nazarene, and his eleven devoted, but timid apostles. 
They are grouped together in sad, but sacred converse. 
The majority of them are leit to wrap their mantles 
around them, and sleep, for a time, upon the green- 
sward, beneath the dark shadows of the olive, and the still 
deeper gloom of their own midnight forebodings. The 
Master, with his favored three, moves off about a stone's 
throw, and kneels under the burden of a great sorrow, 
in agonizing prayer. A grief, too great for utterance, 
and a struggle, which could not long be endured, made 
his soul exceeding" sorrowful, even unto death. 

The King bade the three remain where they were, 
and watch with him while he went yonder and prayed. 
Jesus sinks down upon the earth, crushed beneath the 
weight of his mighty agony. The Man of Sorrows lies 
prostrate upon the cold, damp ground in long and earn- 
est supplication to the Father, that, if possible, the 
bitter cup of his sufferings, may pass from his sacred 
lips. It is a place of many tears — the garden of a mys- 
terious agony bedewed with bloody sweat. It is the 
bitterness of death. Yet in sweetest resignation to the 



1 88 THE BITTER CUP. 

Father's will, his Son is ready to drain the overflowing 
chalice to its very dregs. This was a life and death- 
struggle with the powers of evil for eternal victory, in 
which great drops of the King's life-blood oozed out at 
the pores of his skin, and trickled down upon the ground 
like beads of rolling sweat. The Great Sufferer re- 
turned to his chosen three, to receive a word of sym- 
pathy from human hearts. But alas ! they all slept. 
A gentle reproof was given, and he returned a second, 
and a third time to commune with heaven. And with 
his growing anguish, he falls again and again with his 
face to the earth. Oh ! how bitter the cup, how fear- 
ful the anguish; how piercing the thrice repeated cry: 
Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. But 
how submissive the spirit, which adds as oft, Not my 
will, but thine be done. This mighty struggle was far 
more deadly than death itself. It was the voluntary 
bearing of the immense burden of a world's guilt upon 
his own sinless soul. It was the bowing down, in hum- 
ble submission, of the mighty Head of Deity to receive 
the awful stroke of divine justice, incurred by the fall, 
and executed by the malice of man. But the Father 
heard that master petition, and sent an angel to 
strengthen the weakness of the flesh. A gentle radi- 
ance rested upon the Sinless Sufferer, as he lay in 
agonies and tears. His plaintive voice was hushed ; 
his bitter anguish lulled to sleep, and he arose, victori- 
ous from the mighty contest, with naught, save the 
crimson traces of that bloody struggle, upon his match- 
less form. Overcome with grief, the apostles have all 
found momentary relief in deep slumber. But the scene 
changes. 



JUDAS AFTER JESUS. I 89 

Jesus awoke his disciples, and they all started toward 
the garden gate. But, while his apostles had slept and 
slumbered under their weight of sorrow, his enemies 
had been wakeful, and vigilant in their active malignity. 
When they reached the entrance, they met Judas and 
his motley torch-light procession, ready to do their 
nefarious work. The traitor was excited, pressed hur- 
riedly into the enclosure in advance of his comrades in 
crime, and prematurely gave the promised signal. At 
a gentle reproof from the Master, he fell back toward 
the entrance, through which the conspirators were begin- 
ning to press their way. The King made no effort at 
resistance or flight. Mis disciples tendered their serv- 
ices in his protection. Twelve legions of angels, mighty 
in power, hovered around him, waiting to obey his sacred 
behests. But, not so. The hour of his apprehension 
had come, and he was ready to meet the emergency 
single-handed and alone. He knew that the victory must 
be won by his own right hand, and his holy arm. 
Hence, the Lamb was willingly led to the slaughter. 
Calm and serene, in his kingly majesty, he stood before 
his captors, and demanded the object of their mysteri- 
ous mission. And when told that they sought Jesus of 
Nazareth, he meekly replied, I am he. His divine 
presence overawed, and his matchless voice laid them 
on the ground at his feet. Thus, men of violence and 
blood, whose feet had never faltered before in crime ; 
men whose hands rejoiced in the clash of arms, and 
whose voices were loudest in the cry of battle, cowered 
and fell before the meek and merciful Messenger of 
Heaven. His question, and their answer, were both 
repeated. But not until he manifested a perfect will- 



I90 THE TRIAL OF THE KING, 

ingness to become their Prisoner, did they dare lay 
their unholy hands upon the Sacred Victim. So the 
Mighty Conqueror voluntarily surrendered himself into 
the hands of his enemies, as a Helpless Captive. These 
ministers of death bound their Strange Victim. His 
disciples became alarmed, and forsook him. Of the 
people, there were none with him. His friends timidly 
withdrew to the back-ground, during the remainder 
of the fearful tragedy. Jesus was alone, and a Prisoner, 
guarded and guided by the worst of foes. At their 
command he marched, in his innocence, to the halls of 
justice, to be mocked and scourged, tried and condemned, 
crucified and buried. The first scene closes, and the 
curtain falls. 

The Trial of the King is the second scene in the 
shameful tragedy. Jesus was a Captive, in the hands 
of his merciless enemies, who claimed that he had been 
running at large, for a long time, as a Great Criminal, 
whose words and works endangered the peace, and 
safety of both church and state. It was past midnight, 
when they hurried him from the moon-lit shadows of 
Gethsemane, over the Kidron, and through the silent 
streets of the sleeping city, to the courts of justice ; or 
rather of injustice. 

The curtain rises again, and the sham, and most 
shameful of all trials begins. They ushered the King, 
first, into the presence of Annas, the ex-officio high- 
priest, who, for nearly half a century, had virtually 
wielded the sacerdotal power in Israel. Here the meek, 
and Powerful Prince stood, a Submissive Prisoner for 
preliminary trial, at the tribunal of a most malignant 
enemy. No proof of guilt could be found against him. 



BEFORE ANNAS AND CAIAPHAS. I9I 

Even circumstantial evidence of crime was wanting. 
The judge questioned the Prisoner, with regard to his 
doctrines and disciples, and received, in his mild reply, 
a severe rebuke. This made his minions feel that their 
master was false, and treacherous. They saw, at once, 
that the hoary hypocrisy of the crafty old Sadducee, 
stood abashed before the transparent innocence of the 
Younor Nazarene. So one of his servants, with illegal 
insolence, and inhuman violence, reproved, and smote 
the Sinless Saviour, with the first blow which his sacred 
form had ever felt. But even the insult of a slave was 
borne in meekness by the Lord of lords. As though 
proven guilty of a crime, beyond his jurisdiction, Annas 
sent his Prisoner, in bonds, from a lower to a higher 
court, to that of the civil, or acting high-priest, Caiaphas. 
The priesthood strained its cruel prerogative to the ut- 
most, in order to crush the High-priest of our Pro- 
fession. 

The scene changes. The King" stands before his 
second judge. Caiaphas was high-priest that year, not 
by the grace of God, but through the favor of a Roman 
procurator. Many of the most desperate, and influential 
of the King's enemies were present by this time. In 
fact the whole council seems to have taken part in this 
trial, before it was over. It was virtually a trial before 
the great Jewish Sandhedrim. The very nature of this 
tribunal, over which the high-priest Caiaphas presided, 
made it extremely difficult for them to convict the Sav- 
iour, even unjustly, of any crime worthy of death. 
Their own party differences, and chronic hatred, were 
almost insurmountable barriers. If they accused him 
of being in opposition to the civil authority, that would 



192 THE SAVIOUR CONDEMNED TO DIE. 

enlist for him the sympathies of the Pharisees. If they 
dwelt upon his neglect of the traditional observance of 
the Sabbath day, that would be in accord with the sen- 
timents of the Sadducees. And if they complained of 
the authority he assumed in the Holy Temple, there 
were those in the council who had most heartily sanc- 
tioned its cleansing. Jesus could easily have stirred up 
these latent animosities ; awoke these slumbering pre- 
judices, and disturbed this temporary compromise of 
avowed enemies. In a few words, he could have upset 
all their plans, and arrayed the different factions of that 
council against each other with increased, and deadly 
hatred; but not so. It was not his purpose to defend, 
or defeat. But his prerogative was, to submit and die. 

In their extremity, they sought those who were will- 
ing to bear false witness against the King, that they 
might put him to death, guilty or innocent. These 
bribed perjurers were but too eager to testify against 
the Sinless Son. Their false testimony did not agree. 
Like vapor, it melted even before these wicked judges, 
who could not reconcile it, so as to recognize it as valid 
evidence. The continued silence of their Virtuous Vic- 
tim, maddened these malicious persecutors. But at 
length he broke the silence, to their joy, with the affir- 
mation of his Messiahship. The false and malignant 
Caiaphas threw up his blood-stained hands in holy hor- 
ror, and said they needed no further testimony, since he 
had made himself the Son of God. So the illegal ec- 
clesiastical tribunal, with one voice, condemned the Sin- 
less Saviour to death, upon his own sacred testimony. 

Again the scene changes. The Pious Prisoner is 
committed once more to the cruel custody of the vulgar 



THE OBJECT OE INSULT AND DERISION. 1 93 

band which arrested him, and taken to the Hall of Judg- 
ment to await the break of day that the entire Sanhe- 
drim might legally condemn him to death. He was now 
regarded, by all these priestly servitors, as a fit object 
for insult and derision. So they heaped upon his de- 
fenseless head all the contempt, disgrace and ignominy 
that oriental servility was heir to. That silent meek- 
ness, and divine majesty, which raised him infinitely 
above his vile persecutors, seemed only to make him a 
more Welcome Victim for their low and ferocious ri- 
baldry. They blinded his eyes, spat in his face, struck 
him^vith the palms of their hands, smote him with rods 
and then bade him prophecy for their sport. Oh ! what 
a sad, sad spectacle ; the Saviour of men in the midst 
of a savage, and wanton varletry ; the Messiah from 
heaven held in vile derision, by a merciless rabble ; the 
world's Deliverer in bonds, as a Pronounced Criminal, 
and the Judge of all men condemned by mortal man to 
death. 

At length, the sad hours of his saddest ni^ht were 
passed, and the grey dawn shuddered in the morning 
blushes of a still sadder day for the Suffering Saviour. 
With the earliest twilight, in keeping with their oral law, 
but ignoring the Revelation of God, the great Sanhe- 
drim met, in full session, to condemn him legally; or, 
rather to ratify the vile verdict of the high-priest's noc- 
turnal council. So the dreadful sentence of the lower, 
and illegal courts was now ratified by the greatest ec- 
clesiastical tribunal on earth. And a derision, more 
odious and reprehensible than that of any mere menials 
and knaves, followed, when the taunts and jeers of 
these sanctimonious dignitaries saluted the ears of their 
J 3 



194 THE TRAITOR HANGS HIMSELF. 

innocent, but thrice Condemned Victim. What a terri- 
ble outrage ! these noisy vassals, railing on their Silent 
King! the religious hierarchy, calumniating their own 
Lowly Lord! the ministers of personal vengeance, sit- 
ting in judgment upon the conduct of the Eternal Arbi- 
ter of divine retribution ! the guilty Sanhedrim, render- 
ing a verdict against their Innocent Messiah, through 
whom alone they could hope for acquittal in the great 
Day of Judgment ! 

The traitor, and principal actor in the King's appre- 
hension, who had also been a secure spectator during 
his long, and lawless trial, hearing the infamous derision 
of the council, realized what an awful crime he had 
committed, in betraying his Master ; and filled with bit- 
terest remors'e, went to the authorities, confessed his sin 
and tendered back the guilt-money for which he had 
sold his Lord into captivity. But they treated him with 
indifference and contempt. He. was the broken instru- 
ment, with which they had accomplished their fiendish 
designs, now alike dishonored and despised. His re- 
morse ripened into despair, with the sober thoughts of 
his deed of infamy, when he saw that he could not undo 
what he had unfortunately done. So he threw the money, 
for which he had sold his soul and his Saviour, at the 
feet of the priests, upon the marble pavement of the 
Holy Place, and went out and hanged himself; fell, and 
was buried in the Field of Blood. 

The scene changes again. Early in the morning, the 
high-priests, and their emissaries led their Innocent Vic- 
tim to the Pretorium. They hurried him from a high, 
to a still higher court; from a Jewish, to a Gentile tribu- 
nal ; from a priest's, to a procurator's bar. They ex- 



HE PRISONER BEFORE THE PROCURATOR. 1 95 

pected Pilate would readily ratify their decision, by 
passing civil sentence, at once, upon their Hated Vic- 
tim, and ordering his speedy execution. But, not so. 
The Roman Governor was disposed to save the life of 
the Noble Nazarene, and spare, if possible, his inno- 
cence, the agonies of the cruel cross. The great San- 
hedrim, with its vast numbers, and priestly prestige, 
hoped, no doubt, to overawe the Governor when they 
dragged the Innocent Nazarene into his princely pres- 
ence, bound as a Condemned Criminal. The Pious 
Prisoner presented a sad spectacle, to men and angels — 
one which called forth the sympathies, and enlisted, at 
once, the powers of the procurator in his behalf. 

The Jews ushered Jesus, with many accusers, into the 
Judgment Hall. But their hierarchs, stained with moral 
guilt, shrank from the ceremonial pollution of a Gentile 
court, lest they should be defiled, and could not eat the 
Passover. Pilate noted the ineffable meekness, and 
surpassing majesty of their Royal Victim ; and then went 
out, and contrasted it, at a glance, with the pompous im- 
piety, and insolent vulgarity of his haughty accusers 
and their menial slaves. He then demanded the Jewish 
authorities, to produce their accusations against the 
Accused Nazarene. This astonished them. They de- 
manded his speedy execution, upon the Roman cross. 
But, to their surprise, Pilate now proposed a judicial in- 
vestigation of the whole matter. His contempt for their 
wicked fanaticism, and his higher sense of Roman justice, 
forbade him giving the sanction of his tribunal to their 
dark, and illegal sentence of death. The dignity of his 
office would not allow him to become the mere execution- 
er of their vague, and illicit verdicts against his best sub- 



I96 THE THREE CHARGES. 

jects. Such, at any rate, seems to have been his passion, 
and his purpose at the beginning of the trial. 

The. Jews finally preferred three charges against 
Jesus ; two of which were basely false, while the other 
referred to a perfectly legitimate claim. They said he 
perverted the nation ; forbade the people to pay tribute, 
and called himself a King. Pilate, filled with disgust, 
but embittered with fear, deigned to notice the last 
charge only ; though they all bore the sanction of the 
high-priests, and were backed by the rulers and rabble, 
as wild with passion, and as dark with hatred, as the 
angry elements of the raging sea. He ascertained, 
at once, through the statements of the Accused, that he 
had no just grounds upon which to take cognizance of 
the case. Therefore he frankly confessed, that he found 
no just cause of complaint against the Noted Prisoner ; 
and proposed to set him at liberty. 

But this public acquittal of the King, by the Governor, 
kindled the fury of his foes into a still fiercer flame. 
They resolved, that their purpose to crucify must not 
be foiled, by him upon whom they relied for its bitter 
consummation, when the Dreaded Victim was already in 
their deadly grasp. Hence their voices rose in wilder, 
deadlier tumult for the blood of the Just. By this time 
the city was overflowing with a reckless, profligate and 
tumultuous populace, which had joined the sedition, and 
were clamoring vociferously for the crucifixion of the 
Innocent Nazarene. 

But Jesus- stood, in his conscious innocence, with 
perfect composure, in the midst of this fierce tempest 
of human passion. It was not the fear of his enemies ; 
neither their iron mannacles, but the voluntary restraint 



PILATE IN TROUBLE. 1 97 

over his own infinite power, which fettered his hands, and 
made him their Harmless Captive. For, in his meek- 
ness, there was concealed awful majesty ; in his resigna- 
tion lay hidden divine authority, and in his humble sub- 
mission slept the embodiment of almighty power. But 
still he suffered, with but few to pity. He was defense- 
less, with none to plead his cause. He was the King 
of kings, with no diadem upon his royal brow. He was 
the Eternal Witness for truth and love, in the hands of 
falsehood, and hatred personified. 

At this juncture, Pilate saw himself, in the midst of a 
rebellious city, without strength to suppress the wild 
commotion. He had a mere handful of veterans ; and 
therefore, was forced to tolerate, what he could not pre- 
vent. His palace, by this time, had assumed the aspect 
of a besieged citadel. All Judea was pouring into the 
devoted city. Jerusalem was inundated with crowds, 
from their mountain homes in Galilee, and elsewhere. 
And every moment increased the number of the sedition- 
ists at the Pretorium. But, in the midst of this mighty 
uproar, Pilate heard the name of Galilee mentioned, as 
the chief scene of his public ministry ; and a most happy 
thought suggested itself to his troubled mind. So, with 
one master-stroke of political policy, he thought to rid 
himself of the Princely Prisoner, by sending him to 
Herod, the tetrarch of Galilee, who had more direct 
jurisdiction over the case than himself, since Jesus was 
one of his subjects. 

So a^ain the scene changes. Through the thronged 
streets, amid the jeers, and taunts of the vile rabble, the 
Weary Sufferer was dragged, until brought into the 
presence of Herod Antipas, the murderer of his great 



I98 JESUS BEFORE HEROD. 

forerunner. The wily tetrarch was rejoiced to see Jesus. 
He had desired, for a long time, to witness some of his 
matchless miracles, and listen to some of his marvelous 
maxims. His majesty questioned the Pensive Prisoner 
with many words. But Jesus deigned not to utter a 
single syllable in reply. His majestic silence was the 
only compliment he paid to Herod's royal insolence. So 
the wicked prince, with his men of war, ignored the in- 
nocence, and mocked the misery of the Suffering Sav- 
iour. The cunning old fox, dreading the fate of him 
who pronounced the death sentence of the King, pro- 
fessed humility ; protested his preference in favor of 
Pilate, and committed the fate of the Grandest Galilean 
that ever lived, to the hands of another. The royal 
profligate sent the Silent Saviour back to the precarious 
procurator. 

Once more the scene changes. Once more spotless 
innocence stood arraigned before the trembling tribunal 
of the much perplexed, and wavering Governor. By 
this time, the marble stairs, leading to the hall of justice, 
groaned under the weight of the mighty multitude. The 
vociferations of the infuriated and merciless mob shook 
the royal palace to its very foundation. The relentless 
rabble belched forth, in deafening cries, Crucify him, cru- 
cify him ! Pilate says, There was but one, who appeared 
to be calm in the vast multitude. It was the Innocent 
Nazarene. Often, in our civil commotions, have I wit- 
nessed the furious animosities of the multitudes ; but 
nothing could be compared to what I witnessed in the 
present instance. It might have been truly said, that on 
this occasion, all the phantoms of the infernal regions 
had assembled at Jerusalem. The crowd appeared not 



PILATE PRONOUNCES HIM INNOCENT. 1 99 

to walk. They were borne off, and whirled as a vortex, 
rolling along like living waves, from the portals of the 
Pretorium, even unto Mount Zion, with howlings, 
screams, shrieks and vociferations, such as w T ere never 
heard in the seditions of the Pantheon, or in the tumults 
of the forum. 

But, after a second full and fair trial, Pilate told the 
Jewish authorities, that their King was perfectly innocent 
of all their unjust charges against him. He also pro- 
nounced him spotless and pure, without guile ; and con- 
sequently innocent of all crime, and hence infinitely 
remote from any offense worthy of death. He even went 
so far as to call for an ewer, and washed his hands in 
the presence of the maddened multitude, thereby signi- 
fying his disapproval of the deed which doomed him to 
death. But, all in vain. It was the life-blood of their 
Sinless Victim that these vile wretches thirsted for ; so 
they answered, Let his blood be upon us, and upon our 
children. Crucify him, crucify him. 

Here was the Governor's golden opportunity to vin- 
dicate the justice of his wise decision, by granting liberty 
to the Lord. But, fearing a general insurrection, he 
wavered, and fell from the claims of justice, to the law 
of expediency. He ordered him publicly scourged. 
Rude hands laid on his tender back the heavy rods. 
His flesh was seamed and gored with the lictor's lash. 
But, even this fearful cruelty, the very thoughts of which 
make the heart shudder with anguish, failed to rouse 
the sympathies of his presumptuous prosecutors. They 
still found pleasure in gloating over his terrible agonies; 
and took delight in adding insult to injury, and derision 
to disgrace. Pilate then proposed to release Jesus, 



200 PILATE S WIFE ADMONISHES HIM. 

after the custom of such occasions, as a mere act of 
artificial grace upon the part of the people, rather than 
as an act of acquittal by imperial justice. But his ene- 
mies, who were as pitiless as death, and as remorseless 
as the grave, cried out more vehemently than ever, 
Crucify him, crucify him. 

Pilate had been warned, in his own misgivings, and 
convictions of right. But to strengthen, if possible, his 
purposes of justice, his wife had also solemnly admonished 
him, in a public message, to beware, and not condemn 
the Just, and Holy One of Israel. She said, Last night 
I saw him in a vision. He was walking on the waters. 
He was flying on the wings of the winds. He spoke 
to the tempest, and to the fishes of the lake, and all 
were obedient to him. O Pilate ! evil awaits thee, if 
thou wilt not listen to the vows of thy wife. Dread the 
curse of a Roman Senate, dread the powers of Caesar. 
Gladly would the Governor have heeded those solemn 
admonitions; quickly would he have driven the Jewish 
authorities, with contempt, from his presence ; and will- 
ingly would he have set the Royal Captive at liberty, 
but it was too late. Weakness, cowardice and guilt 
were his insurmountable barriers. The bitter insults 
which he had heaped upon the oppressed Samaritans : 
the secret assassinations of the Jews, by disguised emis- 
saries ; and the innocent blood of those Galileans, which 
he had mingled with their sacrifices, all cried long, and 
loud for vengeance. His former conduct had now re- 
coiled on his own guilty head, and rendered his per- 
sonal will, and wishes, themselves, barriers to justice. 
As a result of past wrong-doing, he was now powerless 
to do right, save at a great risk of loosing his procura- 



THE MOCK CORONATION. 201 

torship, and possibly his life. Thus it always is with the 
weak and wavering ones of earth. 

The people clamored for the Paschal boon, which 
Pilate had offered them. But they would not accept it 
in the person of the Humble Nazarene. They preferred 
one Barrabbas, a seditionist, and a robber, to the Sin- 
less Saviour of the world. They loathed the Innocent, 
but loved the guilty one. They chose the murderer, 
but rejected the Messiah. Pilate released unto them 
Barrabbas ; but still they were not content. In vain he 
sought to reconcile the rabble, to the release of their 
Rejected King. The chief priests had prevailed upon 
the multitudes, to join them in demanding his crucifixion, 
and the more the procurator sought to release their 
Priceless Prisoner, the more vehemently they rent the 
air with their wild, and hideous yells of, Away with this 
man ! Crucify him, crucify him. 

Then the guards took Jesus back into a private hall 
of the Pretorium, where, in the presence of the Roman 
cohorts, they went through the heartless ceremonies of 
a mock coronation. They plaited a crown of thorns, 
and placed it upon his royal brow. They stripped off 
the white robe, with which Herod had unwittingly rep- 
resented his innocence and purity, and put on the pur- 
ple robe, fit emblem of his royal dignity. They also 
placed in his hands the reed-sceptre, striking symbol of 
that matchless power, and divine authority, which would 
spring up out of the weakness, and submission of that 
helpless, and apparently hopeless hour of savage tor- 
ture. Then, with feigned solemnity, and the most de- 
risive homage, they passed before him, bent the knee 
and offered their mock salutations of, Hail, King of the 



202 PILATE S LAST EFFORT TO SAVE JESUS. 

Jews, little knowing how minutely they were prefiguring 
the time when every knee shall bow r and every tongue 
confess him, King of kings and Lord of lords, to the 
glory of God the Father. 

But Pontius Pilate still desired, and still strove to save 
the life of the Tortured Victim. He took him forth 
again before the merciless multitude, his bleeding brow 
crowned with thorns, and his lacerated back robed in 
purple, and, in that touching language which has since 
thrilled millions of hearts with deepest emotion, he ex- 
claimed, Behold the man ! But the Gentile soldier, who 
had shed blood upon many a battle-field, plead all in 
vain with a heartless Jewish priesthood, for the rescue 
of the Sinless Sufferer. This time the chief priests, and 
officers led the mutinous multitude in the sad refrain of 
their death liturgy, Crucify him, crucify him. 

The Governor now proposed to connive at their sin, 
if they would but take, and crucify him themselves. 
But they stubbornly demanded absolute sanction ; and 
would be put off with nothing short of his condem- 
nation, and crucixion by the civil authorities. But, on 
learning that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, Pilate 
made one more desperate effort to release him; for his 
fears were greatly intensified. But the Jews threatened 
him with Caesar ; and the proud procurator, reluctantly, 
yielded to their demands. Time had moved heavily on, 
with the Submissive Sufferer; and he was ready to wel- 
come the last scene in the divine tragedy. The Gover- 
nor had failed, in repeated efforts, to rescue the King 
of Glory from the death-grasp of his evil enemies. The 
authorities, dignitaries and sanctities, of Israel had re- 
peatedly rejected their King; and w T ere still anxious to 



THE CRUCIFIXION OF THE KING. 203 

deliver him over to the Gentiles, to be crucified upon a 
Roman cross. In calm, majestic silence stood the Bleed- 
ing Victim, upon whom all eyes were fixed, waiting pa- 
tiently to hear the final decision of the guilty Governor, 
which he knew would condemn him to die. So the 
dreadful sentence was at last pronounced. It fell in 
broken accents from trembling lips — a sentence which 
doomed the world's Greatest Benefactor to the most 
terrible death ever invented by human cruelty — even 
the ignominious death of the cruel cross. The second 
scene closes, and the curtain falls. 

Tin; Crucifixion of the King is the third, and 
closing scene in the heartless tragedy. There is no 
time now to question about the guilt, or innocence of 
the thrice Condemned Victim. The sentence of death 
has passed, and the law must be speedily executed. 
Jesus was led from the Judgment Hall ; and prepara- 
tions for the triple execution began at once. The sol- 
diers stripped the scarlet robe, stained with innocent 
blood, from the Royal Redeemer, and clad him in his 
own artless apparel. They prepared the huge cross, 
and laid it, in part at least, upon his shuddering 
shoulder. 

The Centurion marched the Paschal Lamb out, in 
company with two vile victims, amid millions of specta- 
tors, coldly inquisitive, or furiously hostile, and the 
cross-procession moved on towards the place of a skull. 
This was a sad procession indeed ; but the most mem- 
orable, that ever moved upon earth. It was more signifi- 
cant than any triumphal march, and far more sorrowful 
than any funeral cortege the world has ever known. 
The Man of Sorrows was now on the Sorrowful Way to 



204 JESUS FAINTS AND FALLS. 

death. Sadly, silently, sorrowfully he totters towards 
Golgotha, with the cross, the dread instrument of his 
own death-torture, upon his bended back. The air was 
rent with taunts, insults and blasphemies, as he dragged 
his weary, aching limbs towards Calvary, to die, that his 
vile tormentors might live. 

But on the way to death, the King fainted, and fell 
under the weight of his mighty burden ; and the cross 
was laid on one of his disciples, Simon, a Cyrenean. 
They hurried him on, in his weakness, to the agonies of 
Calvary. As they marched on, over the Via Dolorosa, 
a mighty volume of sympathy rolled up from the bleed- 
ing hearts of the devoted women, who followed him to 
the cross with boundless sorrow. Their great grief 
found vent only in expressions of sympathy, and com- 
passion for the Suffering Saviour. They beat upon 
their breasts, and rent the air with their mournful, and 
motherly lamentations, until the King bade them, as 
daughters of doomed Jerusalem, weep rather for them- 
selves, and their children. 

Still, the Bloody Victim, the Living Sacrifice, with his 
face swollen from the cruel blows of the smiter, and 
blood-stained from the crown of piercing thorns, fol- 
lowed by the boisterous and maddened mob, was hurried 
on to Golgotha, with none to ask for his release, or 
delay his execution. At length they reached the fatal 
spot, where the Lamb of God was to be sacrificed, to 
satisfy the demands of justice. Here the Divine Victim 
was to be substituted for all human victims ; and pro- 
pitiate for the sins of the whole world, in order to 
appease offended heaven. Here the great sacrifice was 
to be offered, which would reach back in its efficacy to 



THE PLACE WHERE THE KING DIED. 205 

the first transgression, and forward through futurity, to 
the consummation of time. From this altar of expiation, 
the blood of the Just was to roll in life-giving streams, 
which would wash away the sins of the world. 

The place where the King of Glory died is the most 
sacred spot on earth. Men may revere the memory 
of their illustrious dead. They may rear monuments in 
honor of the patriot, the statesman and the philanthro- 
pist ; but in all the archives of history there is no name 
like that of Jesus, and no shrine of devotion before 
which men bow, to be compared with the cross of Cal- 
vary. The Cross of Christ is the central point in human 
history; the boundary line between the ancient and 
modern worlds, and the connecting link between earth 
and heaven. 

We love to contemplate the King in his life-work on 
earth; for each act has its place in the divine economy, 
and every achievement its lesson ol love for suffering 
and sinning humanity. But we love most to view him 
in the agonies of his death ; because the lessons associ- 
ated with the most precious memories of Christ cluster 
around the cross, and lift us nearest to heaven. My 
soul delights to revel amid the serene, sublime and sun- 
shine virtues of the King's holy life; but it derives 
pleasures infinitely deeper and purer, beneath the shad- 
ows of his crimson cross, and in the gloom and glory of 
his new sepulchre, left empty on the morning of the 
third day. But the hour had fully come, for the offering 
up of the great sacrifice ; and the Voluntary Victim was 
ready to die. 

The curtain rises, at nine o'clock in the morning, and 
the last scene in the divine tragedy begins. The King 



206 THE TWO KINGS FACE TO FACE. 

of Glory stands face to face, with the king of terrors ; 
but shudders not, during all the lingering agonies of 
his most dreadful death. The rude soldiery threw him 
upon the rugged cross, the instrument of his cruel death- 
torture, exposing his lacerated flesh and bleeding wounds 
to the gaze of the vast multitude of spectators. And, 
with deadening blows, they drove the huge spikes 
through his tender hands ; hands which had ever ad- 
ministered to the wants of the poor and needy. They 
also sent the iron nails, with retentless stroke, through 
his precious feet ; feet which had always run upon wil- 
ling errands of love and mercy for fallen humanity. 
Now the crimson cross, with its living burden hanging 
helpless upon it, was lifted up, and with cruel thug 
dropped into the appointed soil, causing the most ex- 
cruciating pains and agonizing groans. There the 
King, upon four bleeding wounds, hung between heaven 
and earth, a wounded weight of innocent agony. At 
every movement of the Submissive Sufferer, each vein 
and tendon of his crushed and mangled body throbbed 
with incessant anguish, and intensified agony. Never did 
a confessor, on the rack, or a martyr, amid the flames of 
death, experience such fearful tortures of both soul and 
body, as Jesus endured at this moment ; while a storm 
of shocking shouts, mocking cries and bursts of hoarse 
laughter went up from the raging rabble, in deafening 
volleys of visionary victory. 

But soon was seen, over the head of the Despised 
Nazarene, written, in the three great languages of the 
ancient world, the true, but troublesome inscription in 
which Pilate had given vent to his indignation against 
the authorities of Israel, representing their Tortured 



NUMBERED WITH TRANSGRESSORS. 207 

Victim to all spectators, as The King of the Jews. 
This poisoned their hour of triumph. It showed the in- 
timate relation of the cross to the nationalities of the 
world. So they sent, and besought the Governor to 
change the timely title, which he had given to the Cru- 
cified Nazarene. But, all in vain. What I have written 
is true, and changes not, was the import of Pilate's re- 
ply. So the Dying King, the truest, the greatest and 
the noblest of his race, still reigned, though his throne 
was but a rugged cross, and his crown a bloody wreathe 
of piercing thorns. Amid all the jeers, taunts, and in- 
sults of his dying hours, the Silent Sufferer opened not 
his mouth, save to encourage, inspire with hope or, in 
some way, add to the happiness of others. Racked 
with the pain, and covered with the shame of a crucified 
criminal, no faltering words fell from his sacred lips. 
Forgiveness is the only revenge which finds lodgement 
in the heart, or expression in the words of the Sinless 
Sufferer. But his majestic silence, royal innocence and 
immaculate holiness radiated a halo of glory around the 
cross, which pleads far more eloquently than the deep- 
est pathos of mortal woe, or the bitterest wails of dying 
agonies. 

The Kingf. wno knew no sin, was numbered with 
transgressors. On either side they crucified a thief, to 
make more humiliating, if possible, his ignominious 
death. For a time these criminals joined the merciless 
persecutors, in casting insults into the teeth of the Dy- 
ing Saviour. But at length the Suffering Innocence, 
which hung in meekness by his side, shamed into silence, 
and deepened into penitence the flagrant guilt of one of 
these justly punished outlaws. So, as the heartless re- 



208 PARDON UPON THE CROSS. 

proaches of his enemies merged into deeper, and dead- 
lier blasphemy, the penitent thief called for mercy; and 
bowed his guilty head, in humble submission, before the 
Crucified King, whose very weakness was matchless 
power, and whose seeming defeat was the most trium- 
phant of all victories. The King spoke, and the miser- 
able malefactor received pardon on the cross. One 
word from his sacred lips lifted the heavy burden of 
guilt from the bleeding heart of the dying thief; and 
the bitterness of death, in his sin-sick soul, was lost in 
the deeper thrill of love, which honored the voice of 
Jesus. The King's ear, even amid the agonies of the 
cross, was quick to catch the faintest accents of faith, 
though they fell, in weakness, from the lips of a dying 
malefactor. So, we believe, the shortest sigh of genuine 
penitence, which goes up from dying lips, is heard, by 
the Infinite Redeemer, amid the loudest hosannas of 
heaven. The promises of the cross say to the supplicat- 
ing soul, though its last prayer be its first, This day 
shalt thou be with me in Paradise. The Christ of the 
cross tenders to trusting penitents everywhere, the very 
best of earth, and the whole of heaven. 

The four soldiers, in special charge of the King, 
divided his garments among themselves, and for his 
seamless coat they cast lots. Thus they fulfilled the 
prophecy which said, They parted my raiment among 
them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. 

The fierce heat of the sun beat down upon the de- 
fenseless head of the Royal Victim. The sufferings of 
the crucifixion were intensified by the fearful loss of 
blood, and a burning, raging thirst followed the painful 
convulsions of the cross. So he called for water ; but 



THE SILENT AND SUBMISSIVE SUFFERER. 209 

they offered him vinegar mingled with gall instead. 
But he refused to drink it, possibly because he knew it 
would becloud his faculties, though it promised to miti- 
gate his sufferings. 

Human sympathy would, at least, have let the Victim 
of such an agony die in peace. But the malignant 
hatred of his enemies ignored all the claims of compas- 
sion ; and, with the most vindictive irony, the Rabbis 
and rulers led the vile rabble, for three long hours in 
their rough taunts, bitter gibes and haughty sneers, in 
which they poured insult and mockery upon their Cru- 
cified King. But Jesus knew what the victories of the 
cross demanded. Hence he bore its indignities and 
agonies, with unwavering submission and fortitude. De- 
spising its shame, he endured, most patiently, all its 
sufferings. Not a murmur escaped his fevered lips. He 
was reviled, but kept his peace: smitten, but resisted 
it not : mocked, but bore it all in silence ; and afflicted, 
but opened not his mouth. In the deepest depth of his 
dying agonies, he called for no human comforter, or 
angel deliverer, to prevent his being " perfected through 
suffering." In his silence and submission, he fulfilled 
the prophecy and proved himself to be the Promised 
Messiah. In his cross, the Dying King saw the sign 
of his coming glory ; and in his great sacrificial death, 
the opened gateway to his eternal throne in heaven. 

But there were those, in that vast assembly, whose 
hearts beat in deepest sympathy with the Suffering Sav- 
iour. For all his acquaintance, and the devoted women 
which followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, behold- 
ing all these things, with bleeding hearts, and burdened 
souls. His mother's woes were also mingled with the 
14 



2IO NATURE IN SYMPATHY WITH THE NAZARENE. 

deeper sorrows of her Suffering Son. The Virgin Mary 
looked through tears upon her Dying Boy, as he hung 
in agonies upon the cruel cross. The prophetic sword 
was now piercing through her loving, and submissive 
heart. But the Son had not forgotten his mother. For, 
turning to her, and his beloved disciple, a face veiled in 
many sorrows, and eyes dimmed with many tears, he 
honored the maternal love of the one, and the loving 
fidelity of the other, in a few words which provided a 
home for the childless widow, and gave to John the 
dearest of all mothers. 

All nature sympathized, deeply, with the Crucified 
King in his dying agonies, x^t twelve o'clock the heav- 
ens were gradually darkened, and remained so for three 
long hours. The waning light gave a gloomy aspect to 
the surroundings, befitting the mournful tragedy. The 
darkness increased, until a thick veil shrouded the face 
of the fading firmament. The stars shone out like 
funeral torches, shedding over the tragic scene a pale, 
lurid light, which gave to the mass of spectators the 
weird appearance of an assembly of hideous demons. 
A deep midnight darkness had veiled the sun, and shut 
out the light of heaven at midday. Midnight darkness 
had mantled the earth at noontide. It was night at 
high-noon in the streets of the doomed city. It was 
night all over the Holy Land, where Jesus had let his 
light shine as a sun for many days. It was also night 
in the dark souls of the King's enemies, where the 
blackness of darkness reigned supreme. It was mid- 
night upon the path which many had that day chosen, 
and must travel forever. It was a dark, and terrible 
night upon all who had lifted the puny arm of flesh, 



NIGHT AT NOON. 211 

to blot out of existence, if possible, the Light of the 
World. 

Night came on at noon, that human hearts might not 
be hardened at a deed done by the powers of darkness. 
Darkness came at midday, to teach men that they could 
no more do without the Sun of Righteousness, than 
nature could afford to dispense with the king of day. 
The rulers of Israel had attempted to blot out of exist- 
ence the Sun of Righteousness ; and God smote all the 
people with midnight blindness. The Holy City had 
closed her eyes against the Light of Life ; and Jehovah 
veiled the heavens in deepest darkness. The keepers 
of the city sat sad, and silent in their watch-towers by 
the gates. The sentinels stood still upon her lofty battle- 
ments. And the Roman legion forgot its midday parade 
through her busy streets. All nature gave signs of 
dissolution, and this dark noontide uttered prophecies 
of irretrievable woe to the panic-stricken multitudes who 
groped their way, they knew not where, in the dreadful 
darkness of a day swallowed up in the blackness of 
night. 

This supernatural eclipse of the sun was one of the 
Messianic prodigies, pointed out by prophecy, which sig- 
nalized the displeasure of heaven at the crucifixion of 
her King. This was also the hour and power of dark- 
ness with the King of Light. It was midnight at noon 
to Jesus ; for the darkness of his death was deep and 
desperate. Clouds of sorrow had often saddened his 
heart, and darkened his pathway ; but this was sorrow's 
deepest, darkest night — the black ebon night of death. 
The Prince of Lieht was now brought face to face with 

o o 

the demon of darkness, in deadlv conflict. But the 



212 THE ROCKY SIDES OF GOLGOTHA. 

battle was not hopeless, nor the victory uncertain. The 
dread crisis was soon passed. With infinite ease the 
Victorious Victim vanquished his powerful foe, and tri- 
umphed gloriously over the combined powers of dark- 
ness and death. 

But the sickened sun and the shuddering earth both 
testified to the magnitude of the enormous crime of the 
King's crucifixion. They both gave evidence of deepest 
grief at, and closest sympathy with, the sorrows of their 
Expiring Author. This supernatural darkness of the 
sun was accompanied by the most violent shocks of a 
mighty earthquake. The sun, in all his journeying, had 
never looked down upon such a sad sight, as that pity- 
ing noon-day mantled with the pall of midnight darkness. 
And the earth refused to let her inhabitants gaze on 
such an awful scene, without feelings of deepest awe 
and divine reverence. Hence, while the rocky sides of 
Golgotha were bursting open, a wonderful reaction took 
place in favor of the Dying Nazarene. The rocking 
earth filled the hearts of friends and foes alike with 
terror and dismay; and the cries of the multitudes went 
up amid the convulsions, and ruins of nature, in humble 
acknowledgment of his Messiahship. The Centurion 
expressed the sentiments of thousands of hearts, when 
he said, Truly this was the Son of God. 

Pilate says, By degrees the day darkened like a win- 
ter's twilight. I, the continued governor of a rebellious 
province, was leaning against a column of my basilic, 
contemplating, athwart the dreary gloom, these fiends 
of torture dragging to execution the Innocent Nazarene. 
All around me was deserted. Jerusalem had vomited 
forth her indwellers through the funeral gate that leads 



A PROLONGED MARTYRDOM. 213 

to the gemonica. An air of desolation and sadness 
enveloped me. My guards had joined the cavalry; and 
the centurion, to display a shadow of power, was en- 
deavoring to keep order. I was left alone, and my 
breaking heart admonished me that what was passing 
at that moment appertained rather to the history of the 
gods than to that of man. A loud clamor was heard 
proceeding from Golgotha, which, borne on the winds, 
seemed to announce an agony, such as had never been 
heard by mortal ears. Dark clouds lowered over the 
pinnacle of the Temple, and settling over the city, cov- 
ered it as with a veil. So dreadful were the signs that 
were seen, both in the heavens and on the earth, that 
Dionysius, the Areopagite, is reported to have ex- 
claimed, Either the Author of nature is suffering, or the 
universe is falling apart. 

The crucifixion of the King was but the culmination 
of a prolonged martyrdom. His sighs had been many 
and deep ; his sorrows the burden of years ; and his 
agonies the shadows of death, which had hung in black- 
ness over his sinless soul from the cradle to the cross. 
Now the tide of battle was rolling high. The storm, 
which was suddenly to hush his soul in death, was 
sweeping over the Incarnation of Power in its wildest 
fury. Darkness still lay like a pall upon the earth ; and 
spiritual death fell, like an avalanche of woe, upon the 
soul of the Suffering Son, whom the Father had forsaken. 
But soon the tide of battle turned, justice dropped 
her pointless sword. Mercy's tears of pleading were 
turned into tears of joy, and the redeeming shout was 
sent ringing down the ages to cheer and comfort the 
helpless hearts of humanity, It is finished — Redemp- 



214 



THE VICTOR S SHOUT OF VICTORY. 



tion's work is consummated — the atonement for the sins 
of the world is accomplished. 

All was soon over. With a loud voice, the shout of 
eternal victory, the King cried, It is finished, com- 
mended his spirit to the Father and, in a shriek of more 
than mortal agony, bowed his mighty head, gave up the 
ghost and died. The great veil of purple and gold was 
suddenly rent in twain from top to bottom. The graves 
of the sleeping saints were opened ; and many of them 
arose and made their appearance before the living, in 
the streets of the Holy City. So closed the divine 
tragedy ; and so ended the long agony of years, and 
the sad, sad story of the cross. 




[E RESURRECTION OF IE KING. 
Chapter IX, 



With great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the 
Lord Jesus. — Acts 4: $2>- 



We left the body of the Crucified King- hanging- life- 
less upon the cross. The sun was fast sinking toward 
the western horizon, when the darkness rolled away 
from Calvary's Consummated Sacrifice. The chief 
priests, who had inaugurated their sacred feast by the 
murder of their Rejected Messiah, were much alarmed 
lest the sanctity of the Jewish Sabbath be defiled, if the 
bodies remained on the crosses. Hence they besought 
Pilate that the legs of the victims might be broken, in 
order to hasten their deaths, that they might be taken 
down before the setting of the sun. But when they 
came to Jesus, seeing no signs of life, they preserved 
the symbolism of the paschal lamb of which he was the 
Great Antitype. But, to be certain that his soul had 
passed out into the unseen world, one drove his keen 
spear deep into his side, from which flowed the crim- 
son stream of life that settles forever the reality of his 
most positive death. 

Death brings out the true meaning of life. It un- 
covers its virtues, reveals its fragrance and adorns all its 

grand achievements. No man w r as ever so great, in the 

(215) 



2l6 JOSEPH BEGGING THE BODY OF JESUS. 

estimation of men, before, as after he had passed, o with 
heroic fortitude, through the trying ordeal of death. So 
it was, that the noble self-sacrificing death of the King 
did more than any thing else to give tone, cast and em- 
phasis to the great life he had lived. That grand life 
would long since have been only a thing of the past, no 
longer moving the hearts, and shaping the destiny of 
men, had it not been crowned with a still greater, and 
grander death in which it survived, and has swept on 
down through eighteen centuries, molding the lives, and 
modeling the deaths of millions of earth's happiest sons 
and daughters. 

But Pilate says, Towards the first hour of the night I 
threw my mantle around me, and went down into the 
city toward the gates of Golgotha. The sacrifice was 
consummated. The crowd was returning home ; still 
agitated, it is true ; but gloomy, taciturn and desperate. 
What they witnessed had stricken them with terror and 
remorse. * * * Sometimes groups of men and 
women would halt, then looking backward towards Mount 
Calvary, would remain motionless, in expectation of wit- 
nessing some new prodigy. I returned to the Pretorium, 
sad and pensive. On ascending the stairs — the steps of 
which were still stained with the blood of the Nazarene — 
I perceived an old man in a suppliant posture, and be- 
hind him several women in tears. He threw himself at 
my feet, and wept bitterly. It is painful to see an old 
man weep. Father, said I to him, mildly, who are you, 
and w 7 hat is your request? I am Joseph of Arimathea, 
replied he, and am come to beg of you, upon my knees, 
permission to bury Jesus of Nazareth. Your prayer is 
granted, said I to him, and at the same time ordered 



A BURIAL WITH THE RICH. 217 

Manlius to take some soldiers with him, and superintend 
the interment, lest it should be profaned. 

They took the body of the Dead King down from the 
cross, and tenderly bore it to the tomb. This was the 
saddest funeral procession ever seen on earth. The 
company was small, but their grief was too deep for 
utterance. Their demeanor was in keeping with the 
solemnity, and sacredness of the occasion. The light of 
a life dearer to them than their own had crone out, in 
darkness and in death. The darkest night that ever 
mantled the earth was gathering its evening shades 
around them, when they reached the garden, and came 
to the new sepulchre. Mere the faith of his followers 
must have faltered. Here they felt that they were to 
bury the hopes of a wicked world. From this service of 
love and sorrow they were to go forth, they knew not 
where, in darkness and despair. But they laid their 
sacred burden down, in tears, at the mouth of an open 
grave. 

The necessary preparations for the King's burial were 
soon made. The mangled and blood-stained body was 
carefully washed and wrapped in fine white linen. It 
was also perfumed with myrrh and aloes provided for its 
imperfect embalment. His obsequies were not so humble 
as had been his fortune through life. Jesus had lived 
in poverty ; had been crucified as a malefactor, but was 
buried as a King. Joseph and Nicodemus, both men of 
means and honorable councilors, were interested in his 
burial. The one furnished the royal sepulchre and fine 
linen robes, and the other the costly perfumes which 
gave him a burial with the rich in his death. 

The last kiss, the pledge of undying love for their 



2l8 THE GREAT PASCHAL SABBATH. 

Sleeping King, had been given. Then they laid his 
sacred body in the new tomb, hewn out of a rock, rolled 
a great stone against its entrance, and the hurried 
burial of their Beloved Master was over. And his body, 
cold and chill in death, was left in the silence and soli- 
tude, the damp and darkness of the rocky tomb, while 
the disciples went their way to mourn over what they 
conceived to be an irreparable loss. 

But the world should rejoice to know that the Prince 
of Life passed through the dread ordeal of death, and 
took away its sting and its stigma ; entered the dark 
portals of the tomb, and robbed it of all its terror and 
its gloom. For now death is a welcome guest to his 
faithful followers ; and the grave but a resting-place for 
the weary bodies of his sleeping saints, while their 
happy souls bask with him in the light and glory of a 
Heavenly Paradise. 

The Buried King slept quietly in the new sepulchre 
that night. The next day was the great Paschal Sab- 
bath. The courts of the Holy Temple were filled with 
formal worshipers. The white-robed priests were busy 
with their offerings for -the sins of Israel. The voices, 
and trumpets of the Levites were loud and long in their 
calls for devotion. The high-priest, in his sacerdotal 
robes, showed with gorgeous splendor before the gazing 
multitudes. But it must have been with feelings mingled 
with fears, that they passed through the services of that 
memorable day. A portentous omen faced the throng- 
ing crowds of the Temple all day long. The Holy of 
holies, for centuries veiled in awful majesty, save to the 
high-priest who was only allowed to enter it annually, 
was now laid open to the inspection of the vulgar and 



THE SEPULCHRE SEALED AND GUARDED. 2IO, 

the vile. The presence-chamber of Deity, no longer 
filled with divine glory, was now exposed to the gaze of 
every wandering eye and wayward glance. The scenes 
of the past eventful day still crowded upon their melan- 
choly memories. The innocent blood called down upon 
their own, and the heads of their children, was still fresh 
upon their crimson souls. 

But the chief priests, fearing the resurrection of the 
King, went to the Governor, at evening fall, and 
obtained permission to place the seal of state upon the 
mouth, and station a company of soldiers around the 
door, of the sepulchre of the Sacred Dead. This was 
done under pretense, that his disciples might come by 
night and steal him away ; and then proclaim his resur- 
rection from the dead, as an evidence of his Messiah- 
ship. The authorities of Israel could not deny the 
wonderful prodigies, associated with his sacrificial death. 
The Jewish Talmud shows how far the)- were, even from 
disbelieving these stupendous miracles. The fact is, 
they knew too well that the foot of him, who was to 
bring glad tidings to Israel, had already left its sacred 
imprints in the valleys, and on the mountains of the 
Holy Land. They were but too conscious of the fact 
that they had crucified the Lord of Glory. And their 
only hope was to thwart, if possible, the purposes of 
heaven, in preventing his resurrection from the dead. 

The King slept away another night quietly in the 
tomb. But, when the first streaks of dawn began to 
silver the darkness and usher in- the lieht of the third 
day, the devoted Marys, all unconscious of what had 
been done the evening before, were hastening to the 
sacred sepulchre with more spices and ointment to com- 



2 20 THE RESURRECTION OF THE KING. 

plete the temporary embalmment of their Buried King. 
They started from the city while it was yet dark, but so 
swiftly the dawn ripened into day, that, ere they reached 
the garden and came to the tomb, two suns had risen 
to flood the world with their light and their glory. 

Jesus, the Sun of Righteousness, had risen from the 
dead with healings in his beams for all the nations of 
the earth. He rose early, even while the Holy City still 
slept in the balmy breezes of the morning dawn. For 
during a mighty earthquake an angel descended from 
heaven, and rolled away the stone from the door of the 
sepulchre ; and the Crucified King came forth unseen 
by the sentinels, who became as dead men for fear of 
the angel whose countenance was like lightning and 
whose raiment was white as snow, and fled in terror and 
dismay at sight of the celestial vision. At any rate the 
devoted women, who were so early at the sepulchre, not 
knowing who would roll away the stone for them, found 
it already open, empty and without a sentinel, save the 
angels who informed them of the King's resurrection, 
saying, Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 

The King's body was evidently missing. No one 
denied this fact. But what became of it ? This is the 
question that agitated the public mind, and stirred the 
great heart of the populace. There were but two ways 
to account for its absence from the tomb. One was to 
accept the invention of his enemies, who with large 
bribes had induced the guards to testify to a falsehood, 
saying that his disciples came, in the darkness, and stole 
him away while they slumbered and slept. Now the 
Jewish hierarchy knew that it was death for a sentry to 
be found asleep at his post. So they promised to stand 



THE TESTIMONY OF THE SLEEPERS. 221 

between the soldiers and danger, in case the story 
reached the Governor's ears. But this invention, it is 
easy to see, bore, upon its very face, the impress of 
falsehood. If asleep, the sentinels could not know what 
had become of the body of the Crucified Nazarene. To 
say the least of it, sleeping witnesses should bear silent 
testimony. The second way to account for the missing 
body of the Buried King was to credit the testimony of 
the angels and those to whom he appeared after his 
resurrection from the dead. Here were competent wit- 
testifying to a truth of which they were- perfectly 
cognizant. They were witnesses whose veracity could 
not be called in question for a moment. And the)' tes- 
tified, with divine grace and great power, to the resur- 
rection of the Lord Jesus. 

The King's resurrection is a fundamental fact resting 
upon the highest order of historical evidence, and divine 
revelation. History affirms nothing more positively 
than it does the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the 
dead. The writings of the New Testament show most 
conclusively that a general belief in this historic truth, as 
the fulfillment of prophecy, existed soon after the cruci- 
fixion, even while its events were still fresh alike in the 
memories of friends and foes. Sacred history also in- 
forms us that the King brought with him from the grave 
a unique and divine dignity, which proved him, beyond 
all doubt, to be the world's anticipated, but Rejected 
Messiah. This evidence makes his resurrection a fact 
as absolutely certain, as either his birth or his death, 
and glorious enough to transfigure all his sorrows and 
sufferings into joy and gladness for evermore. 

But a general belief in the King's resurrection could 



222 NO MERE MENTAL HALLUCINATION. 

not have been the result of a recovery from a swoon 
after his crucifixion and burial. Nor could it possibly 
have been from a mere mental hallucination upon the 
part of his disciplies, who claimed to have seen their 
Risen Lord. They did not, in the height of credulous 
enthusiasm, see mere visions of the Risen King. But 
Jesus revealed himself to them, after his matchless pas- 
sion, in their calmest, and most deliberate moments, as 
those to whom the story of his resurrection seemed, at 
first, as an idle tale, by such infallible signs and proofs as 
to convince the most incredulous among them that he 
was verily their Risen Redeemer. These evidences of 
his resurrection revived, in the bleeding hearts of his 
followers, every hope crushed out by the crucifixion of 
the Divine Master, and became the bond of union which 
held the church together after his glorious ascension. 
Six weeks after his resurrection, their faith in this grand 
event, became the basis upon which all Christians built 
their hopes of immortality and eternal life beyond the 
grave. And upon this sure foundation the Christian 
world has stood for nearly nineteen centuries with un- 
shaken faith in the promises, and power of this Risen 
Saviour. Now, if this faith had been merely an idle be- 
lief in a ghost story, it would long since have come to 
naught. But, not so. It has been accompanied by a 
human energy, and a divine power sufficient, in the face 
of the gravest possible opposition, and the most eminent 
perils and powers of earth, to sustain the ponderous 
weight of his growing kingdom down through the gath- 
ering ages of time ; and will be amply sufficient to bear 
her grandly and gloriously on to ultimate, and univer- 
sal victory. 



INDIVIDUAL LIFE BEYOND DEATH. 223 

But the words of life which dropped in love from the 
lips of the King, are the embodiment of this vital truth, 
and he himself, after his resurrection, the representative 
of this individual life beyond the scenes and agonies of 
natural death. For his life, after the resurrection, was 
just as real, positive and personal to his disciples as 
was the same Individual life of which they had seen the 
fruits with their own eyes, and felt the power in their 
own hearts, during the three years of his public minis- 
try. Individual life, as a reality; personal death, as a 
certainty, and a distinctive resurrection, as a completion 
of our personal individuality beyond the grave, can 
never more.' be called in question, since Jesus lived, died 
and rose again as the Great Exemplar of this mysteri- 
ous triad — life, death and the resurrection. For the body 
at death is not more intimately identified with the body 
at birth, than will be the resurrection bod)- with the body 
at death. Every body will carry its wonted identity with 
it through the dim portals of death, into the gateway of 
an endless existence beyond the scenes of the tomb. 
And the glorified sons of the redeemed, at their re-union 
on the morning of the resurrection, will recognize the 
fact that their new bodies are identical with the old. 
Each soul will also know, perfectly, the individual char- 
acteristics of all others, since they will all be seen, 
through these transparent bodies, just as they are in 
the sight of God. For these grand lessons were taught 
the world, when the King showed himself alive to so 
many, after his mysterious passions, by such infallible 
proofs, and in ways best calculated to comfort the hearts, 
and confirm the faith of those who recognized him as 
their Risen Lord and Exalted King. 



224 IMPORTANCE OF THE RESURRECTION. 

We are now ready to affirm, that the resurrection 
of the King was an event of paramount importance, 
both to the church and the world. In proof of this po- 
sition, we need only remind you of the fact, that, after 
the fall of Judas from his apostleship,- another was 
chosen in his stead for the express purpose of bearing 
testimony to the resurrection of the Master ; and that 
the twelve did with great power give witness, while 
great grace was upon them, of the resurrection of the 
Lord Jesus. Poets, sages and philosophers had, for 
centuries, regarded individual life as a wandering 
thought, a bodiless dream or, at best, as a mere spiri- 
tual essence, without form or fashion, to be lost, at 
death, in the great ocean of eternal existence, or dis- 
solved in the mysterious realm of utter dissolution for 
both soul and body. But the resurrection of the King 
has taught the world the grand lesson, that individual 
life is a real, positive and complete vital force here, 
which will carry its wonted identity, and exalted per- 
sonality with it, through the ordeal of death, into the 
joys, or sorrows of an endless life beyond. 

But what evidence have we of the King's resurrec- 
tion ? We know he lived, died and was buried. No 
one denies these facts. But some have called in question 
the truthfulness of his resurrection from the dead. Let 
us examine the witnesses, and produce the testimony in 
favor of this fundamental doctrine, upon which our holy 
religion is founded. For, while our Christianity has so 
many massive pillars to support it, we regard the resur- 
rection of the Lord Jesus Christ as the grand central 
pillar, the key-stone of the arch that shuts and binds the 
whole in one impregnable fortress, against which the 



TESTIMONY IN FAVOR OF HIS RESURRECTION. 225 

billows of opposition have beat in vain for eighteen cen- 
turies. By preaching this precious doctrine, of Jesus 
and the resurrection, with great power, the apostles 
overcame the deadly fascinations of ancient mythologies, 
conquered rebellious kingdoms, and triumphed glori- 
ously over the heathen world. And the result of a be- 
lief in, and the preaching of the resurrection of Jesus 
Christ, is one of the most infallible proofs of its divine 
reality. 

Our first witnesses are the many saints who came 
forth from their graves, after the King's resurrection, 
and appeared in Jerusalem, to the great terror and 
consternation of the inhabitants, as the trophies of 
his matchless victory over death, hell and the grave. 
These were all living witnesses, from the 1 regions of 
the dead; and though they ma)- have borne silent, yet 
they bore the most powerful testimony in favor of the 
resurrection of the Lord Jesus. 

Our next witnesses are the astonished sentinels who 
deemed it useless longer to guard an empty grave; and 
fled in terror and dismay to the chief priests, to whom 
they related all the strange things which they had seen 
and heard at the sacred sepulchre. In their unvar- 
nished story, they also bore the most positive testimony 
to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. But in the face 
of this strong evidence from their own guards, the Jew- 
ish authorities, with but the shadow of a chance to es- 
cape the inevitable, attempted to hide these stubborn 
facts behind a refuge of lies, too incredible to be be- 
lieved by even the most credulous of earth. 

But Pilate himself tells us, that the sepulchre was 
found empty a few days after the crucifixion of the Naz- 
15 



2 26 ANGELIC TESTIMONY. 

arene;; and that his disciples published all over the 
country, that Jesus had risen from the dead, as he had 
foretold. 

But our most reliable witnesses are the angels who 
descended from heaven, rolled away the stone, saw the 
King come forth and bore the most sacred testimony to 
the same, before the devoted women, who were early 
at the sepulchre. Now, if we accept the evidence of 
men, this timely testimony of the angels is still greater. 
And they testified to this feasible fact in such simple, 
and comprehensive language, that none, not even the 
most illiterate, could fail to comprehend it. They said 
plainly, He is not here ; he is risen from the dead. And 
no evidence of earth can impeach this tangible testimony 
from heaven. 

But the Risen King appeared himself that morning, 
first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast so 
many devils, and then to all her companions who had 
seen the holy visions and heard the angelic voices at 
the door of his empty sepulchre. When he hailed them 
in human voice, with the familiar words of a salutation 
which they had often heard, he spoke so kindly and 
tenderly that they knew it could be no other than the 
voice of their Risen Jesus ; and hence they fell down, 
took him by the feet and worshiped him. So when 
they testified to his resurrection, in the presence of the 
eleven apostles and the other disciples, they could say, 
The Lord is risen indeed ; we were not only told so by 
the angels, we found at the empty tomb, but we have 
seen him with our own eyes, did fall down, take him by 
his wounded feet and worshiped him; and we know for 
a truth that he is risen from the dead. It is not strange 



APPEARANCES AFTER THE RESURRECTION. 227 

that Jesus appeared first to this loving band of women 
who came so early on the morning of that third day, to 
pay him, as they thought, the last tribute of affection. 
His distinct personality naturally led him to seek first 
to comfort and confirm his most intimate and devoted 
friends. They of all others would most easily recognize 
the divine presence, and be most rejoiced to see him 
alive again in the midst of the scenes of his sufferings, 
and hard by the agonies of his cross. 

But when the apostles heard the story of the King's 
resurrection, Peter and John also made haste to the 
sepulchre; and when they entered in, they found it 
empty and in order. They say there was no sign of 
violence or robbery — no evidence of haste or midnight 
flight. Jesus seems to have risen early in the morning, 
as one would rise from sleep. The grave-clothes were 
lying in perfect order in one corner of the sepulchre. 
The empty tomb resembled to them a sleeping-chamber 
set in order by its occupant, for the visit of spectators, 
rather than a pilfered sepulchre. 

But the King appeared also to Peter, it is thought by 
some, on the same day that he rose from the dead. 
Paul says, He was seen of Cephas. However, we know 
nothing of what passed between the Master and his 
impulsive apostle at this private interview. After that 
he was seen of James also. Neither have we any 
account of this interview, save in the Gospel of the 
Hebrews. Here we are told that James, the brother of 
Jesus, after the last supper, tool^ a solemn vow neither 
to eat nor drink, until he had seen his Risen Lord. 
Therefore, soon after his resurrection, Jesus made his 
appearance, blessed bread and gave it to James, saying, 



2 28 JESUS TALKS WITH TWO DISCIPLES. 

Eat thy bread now, my brother, since the Son of Man 
has risen from the dead. After his resurrection the 
King came and went at pleasure, with the velocity of 
thought. Doors, though bolted and barred, neither shut 
him in, nor kept him out. But he always adapted 
his disclosures to the requirements of his disciples. 
Hence they always recognized him, ere his departure, 
as their Risen Lord. 

Again, the King appeared to two of his disciples, 
while on their way to Emeas. He approached them as 
a stranger ; and walked along with them over the hills, 
and through the valleys, expounding to them the script- 
ures of eternal truth. For, beginning with the law of 
Moses, he passed down through the prophets, showing 
them that it was necessary to the fulfillment of these 
scriptures, that Christ should come, be crucified and 
buried, and on the third day rise again. But finally he 
was known of them in the breaking of bread ; and when 
he disappeared, they set out at once, returned to Jeru- 
salem and testified, to the residue of the disciples, that 
the Lord had risen from the dead, and how he was 
known of them in the breaking of bread. No wonder 
they said to each other, as they returned to the city, 
How our hearts did burn within us, as he talked to us 
by the way, and opened to our understanding the script- 
ures of eternal truth. For it is when Jesus communes 
with his people, by the way, that their hearts burn within 
them, and are made to glow with wonder and delight 
on account of the fullness of his grace. 

But the King also returned to Jerusalem that after- 
noon, and appeared to his disciples, as they sat at meat 
in a certain room with closed doors. He stood unex- 



NEWS TOO GOOD FOR CREDENCE. 229 

pectedly in their midst, with the same pure, serene and 
majectic presence which had both awed and attracted 
so many hearts, and, with the same voice they had so 
often heard, he pronounced the familiar salutation, Peace 
be unto you. They believed him to be a spirit; for the 
story of others was still regarded as an idle tale — news 
too good for credence. But, to convince them that he 
was verily their Risen Saviour, he called for meat, and 
did eat before them, showing his hands and feet, and 
telling them that a spirit did not possess flesh and bones 
as he did. Then were the disciples glad, when they 
saw that it was their Risen Lord. Jesus was there, in 
his own person, to teach them that the life beyond the 
scenes and shadows of death is just as real, as easily 
recognized and as well known, in its individual identity 
and personal characteristics, as is the present life of 
mortal men. They knew he was their Risen Jesus ; for 
they had felt the warmth of his divine presence, and 
heard the tenderness of his welcome voice, and viewed 
the signal signs of his cruel cross. With these impor- 
tant facts before their own eyes, they could no longer 
doubt the identity of his person, or the reality of his 
resurrection. Thus the proofs of the King's resurrection 
were put to the most practical tests, that the apostles 
might know that he was risen from the dead, and with 
great power bear witness to the same in their future min- 
istrations. The King had passed from the natural to 
the spiritual life, to show them how certainly and how 
speedily this mortal can put on immortality. He crossed 
over the dark stream of death and returned to life, that 
the world might know that the footing is firm, and the 
landing safe to all who follow in his footsteps. The 



23O DOUBTING THOMAS CONVINCED. 

presence of Jesus, once more among his disciples, was 
like the balmy breath of spring after the chilling winds 
of a cold bleak winter. It filled their hearts with the 
purest, and holiest joys, and flooded their souls with 
the sacred light of a heavenly unction. 

But doubting Thomas was not present, on this occa- 
sion, to see for himself the Risen King. So, when he 
returned, they all, with one. accord, told him they had 
seen their Risen Lord ; and how he had been known of 
them. But said Thomas, Except I see the prints of the 
nails in his hands, and thrust my hand into his side, I 
will not believe. There may be doubting Thomases 
among my readers, who, with all this weight of evi- 
dence before them, will virtually say, we do not be- 
lieve. If so, may God pity, and pardon your unbelief. 

Eight days later, or on the next Lord's day, the King 
again stood in the midst of his disciples, the door being 
shut as before, and greeted them with his usual saluta- 
tion. The doubter was present, this time, to see for 
himself. So the Risen Master, having laid bare his 
wounded side, and stretched forth his holy hands with 
their scarred palms, turned to his incredulous disciple, 
whose presence showed a desire to believe the good 
news, and with a rebuke, such as infinite love alone can 
give to unbelief, he said, Thomas, reach hither thy fin- 
ger, and behold the prints of the nails in my hands ; and 
reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side ; and 
be not faithless, but believing. At once his doubts 
were all dismissed, his faith forever confirmed, and his 
heart filled with joy and exultation in believing. Words 
could not express the deep emotions of his solaced soul. 
Convinced that it was his Risen Saviour, who stood be- 



ON THE SEA-SHORE OF GALILEE. 23 I 

fore him, he threw up his hands, while the deepest 
thought of his happy heart came bubbling up, and in- 
voluntarily exclaimed, My Lord and my God. To which 
the Saviour replied, Thomas, seeing, thou hast believed; 
blessed are they that having not seen, yet have believed. 
Christian reader, this blessing is ours. It has not been 
our privilege to see the Risen Lord with the natural 
eye, or like Thomas, to examine the prints of the nails 
in his hands, and thrust our hand into his wounded side; 
but we have viewed him with the eye of faith ; for having 
not seen, yet we have believed in him as our Risen Re- 
deemer, and hence the blessing is ours. 

Again, some time after his resurrection, the King 
appeared, at the flush of dawn, to seven of his disciples, 
on the sea-shore of Galilee, where he manifested his 
wonted interest in the laborers of earth. It had been 
several weeks since they had seen their Risen Lord. 
All but the last ray of hope had faded out, and they had 
returned to their old occupation for a support. Peter 
had led the way. He said, I will wait no longer on the 
Master : I go a fishing. The rest said, We also go with 
thee. So they went and toiled all night in vain — they 
had caught nothing. But one moment, in the Master's 
presence, crowned their efforts with unparalleled suc- 
cess. They had spent a dark, and dangerous night 
upon the sea; but the divine presence ushered in a 
bright, and hopeful day as they neared the land. Jesus 
came to them, as he always comes to his disciples, with 
just such blessings as their peculiar circumstances de- 
manded. He fed their hungry bodies, and feasted 
their fainting souls. He gave these humble fishermen 
their personal commissions, and sent them out to testify 



232 ON A MOUNTAIN IN GALILEE. 

to his resurrection in all the world, that the toiling mill- 
ions, upon the sea of time, might behold him with the 
eye of faith, as he stands on the shore ready, and wait- 
ing to bless them with all needed good — ever willing to 
keep watch and ward over them, through all the stormy 
voyage of life. 

Shortly after this the King stood in the midst of 
over five hundred persons, on a mountain in Galilee. 
Perchance it was the Mount of Transfiguration. This 
was the only place he had appointed, beforehand, to 
meet the disciples after his resurrection. Hence great 
numbers had gathered there to see their Risen Lord. 
How will he come? in solitude and alone? or will he be 
accompanied by a multitude of the heavenly hosts, to 
sing the triumph of his mission of mercy, and the glo- 
ries of the victory he won upon the cross ? Will he 
look like he did to the favored three, on the night of 
his transfiguration? Will holy men of old be found in 
his shining retinue? How will he appear? This was 
the all-absorbing question. But at length he stood in 
their midst, the same Jesus he ever was, only changed, 
in body, from the natural to the supernatural ; from the 
mortal to the immortal. They soon recognized him as 
the same Jesus who hung upon the cross, until the cen- 
turion pronounced him dead, with the same identical 
body that laid in the new tomb, until the morning of the 
third day, when the corruptible was changed into the 
incorruptible, and death swallowed up in victory. Whis- 
pers ran through all the vast multitude: It is our Risen 
Lord. And they bowed to worship a Resurrected Sav- 
iour, but rose in adoration before the majesty of the 
King of Glory, who said to them : All power is given 



JESUS SEEN OF PAUL. 233 

unto me in heaven and in earth. He gave them col- 
lectively their world-wide commission, authorizing them 
to go into all nations, and preach Jesus and the resur- 
rection to every creature. This glorious doctrine has 
been most faithfully preached for nearly nineteen cen- 
turies by many of the best, ablest and bravest men of 
earth ; and it is still the sweetest, and dearest hope of a 
dying world. 

The King's last appearance, to his disciples, was on 
the day of his ascension. He led them out from Jeru- 
salem to the Mount of Olives, and gave the promise of 
the Spirit, which came in such great power on the day 
of Pentecost. When they reached the appointed place, 
Jesus raised his hands in blessings, the disciples bowed 
their heads in reverence, the words were soon spoken, 
and their Risen Master became their Ascended Lord. 

Paul, in writing to the Corinthians on this subject, 
said : For I delivered unto you first of all that which I 
also received, how that Christ died for our sins accord- 
ing to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that 
he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures : 
and that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve : 
after that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren 
at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this pres- 
ent, but some are fallen asleep. After that he was 
seen of James ; then of all the apostles. And last of 
all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due 
time. So you see the King appeared some twelve or 
fifteen different times to his disciples, and others, after 
his resurrection, when they were permitted to examine 
him closely, and satisfy themselves thoroughly that it 
was their Risen Lord. Here is a host of competent wit- 



234 A PROPOSITION AND A PROMISE. 

nesses in any court, bearing with great power, the most 
positive testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. 
But if we take the evidence of men and angels, the testi- 
mony of God is infinitely greater. And God hath testi- 
fied to the fact of the King's resurrection through the 
voice of prophecy, in the words of inspiration and in 
the person of the Son. 

But the King's resurrection is an evidence of a gen- 
eral resurrection, as we have already intimated. This 
is the most precious thought connected with this inter- 
esting subject. God hath both raised up the Lord, and 
will also raise up us by his own power. Here we have 
a proposition and a promise inseparably connected. 
And the truthfulness of this grand assertion is the most 
positive proof of the fulfillment of the precious promise, 
by which it is accompanied. For if we believe that 
Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which 
sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. Clement, in 
his letter to the Corinthians, said : Let us consider, 
beloved, how the Lord does continually show us, that 
there shall be a future resurrection ; of which he has 
made Jesus Christ the first-fruits, raising him from the 
dead. The sweet singer of Israel, while contemplating 
his own resurrection, based, it seems, entirely upon his 
faith in the resurrection of a Coming Messiah, whom 
God had sworn with an oath that he would raise up to 
sit on his throne, broke forth in such rich, and beautiful 
strains as these : Therefore my heart is glad, and my 
glory rejoiceth; my flesh also shall rest in hope. For 
thou wilt not leave my soul in hell ; neither wilt thou 
suffer thy Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt show 
me the path of life : in thy presence is fullness of joy ; 



DEATH PERSONIFIED. 235 

at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. 
When we look back, through eighteen centuries, into 
the deserted sepulchre of our Risen Saviour, we can but 
see it as the birth-place of his people's immortality. 
For, when he bursted asunder the iron bars of the tomb, 
and came forth a Triumphant Conqueror over death, 
hell and the grave, he laid a foundation-stone upon Cal- 
vary, the shock of which jarred the earth, awoke the 
dead and shook the nether world with terror. But 
when he shall bring forth the topmost stone, amid shout- 
ings of joy, on the morning of the great resurrection 
day, thank God, the dominions of death and hell shall 
all perish, the last captive go free and the songs of the 
bursting sepulchres of his sleeping saints be sweeter 
than the chorus of the morning stars which sane to- 
gether at creation's birth. The dark night of death 
then is not to the dying Christian a starless night. It 
has a promised morn, which hangs the rainbow of hope 
over the sleeping dust of all our sainted dead. 

Personify death ; and he is a rude, and heartless in- 
vader; a cruel and treacherous foe, destitute of pity or 
compassion, and deaf alike to the cries of infancy, the 
appeals of manhood and the silence of old age. He 
comes as a conqueror, and leaves the beauty of our 
homes a desert waste. He lays his icy fingers upon the 
forms of our loved ones, and they wither at his chilling 
touch. He is a dark prince whose mandate all must, 
sooner or later, obey. He is a reaper whose sickle will 
ultimately cut down every human being in the wide, 
wide world. He will continue to thrust his keen sickle 
in until every stalk of bearded manhood, and every 
flower of blooming childhood is leveled in the dust. 



22,6 HUMANITY CHANGED INTO IMMORTALITY. 

But in the morning of the great resurrection our Risen 
King will be the plague and destruction of this heedless 
and heartless demon. Then death, the King of terrors 
himself, shall die ; his empire be annihilated, and the 
shouts of the redeemed be heard, in triumph, amidst 
the ghastly ruins of his dark and desolate dominions. 
The resurrection of the King has given us this blessed 
assurance of final victory over death. Such is the pre- 
cious legacy left us by a Risen Saviour. Death then is 
not annihilation. Humanity must be changed into im- 
mortality. The natural will ripen into a supernatural 
body. The lower will be transformed into a higher de- 
velopment of life. Our bodies must be planted in death, 
and rise in the resurrection, before we can enjoy the 
glories of the celestial life, in all its fullness. Infidelity 
has written upon every tomb, Death is an eternal sleep. 
But Christianity's epitaphs, over the portals of her sleep- 
ing saints, all declare death to be the gateway to eter- 
nal life, the shining portal to light everlasting, the ves- 
tibule of glory, the entrance leading to the blissful courts 
of heaven. The light, from the empty sepulchre, shines 
as brightly as the noon-day sun without an intervening 
cloud. The testimony of the Gospel confirms our most 
sanguine hopes. Then the world need no longer grope 
its way in midnight darkness. For the Risen Rock 
upon which we rest our faith, and base our hopes of im- 
mortality and eternal life, is as firm as the everlasting 
pillars of God's immutable universe. 

God's works all show a gradual development toward 
perfection. The earth was at first formless and void. 
The beauty, and symmetry of a perfect world were" 
reached by successive steps of unfolding. The work of 



A SUPERNATURAL FACT. 237 

creation is a series of gradations, reaching its climax in 
man. A constant succession, and progression from the 
lower to the higher orders of beine and life is seen in 
all his works and ways. The perfect day comes by 
gradual gradations of light, from the darkness of night: 
first we have the twilight; afterwards the roseate hori- 
zon, and then the sun shining in all his beauty and glory. 
So came the revelations of God's li^ht and truth to a 
dark and benighted world, with reference to the resur- 
rection of the body, and the immortality of the soul. 
The light of the resurrection dawned slowly upon the 
human mind. It was but dimly seen, at first, by the 
prophets. Rut as prophecy drew nearer the day of its 
fulfillment, this precious truth became more clear and 
definite. But it was left for the resurrection of the King - 
to drive back the last cloud, and let this grand doctrine 
shine forth in all its wonted splendors and glory. Pa- 
ganism had no fixed ideas, and Judaism but faint rev- 
elations of life beyond the narrow limits of the tomb. 
Immortality was the dream of poets, rather than the 
common faith of the people, until Jesus, in his own res- 
urrection, brought life and immortality more fully to 
light through the Gospel. 

The resurrection is a supernatural fact, simple and 
comprehensive only when viewed as lying in the realm 
of the supernatural. It is necessarily mysterious in its 
mode, because to accomplish it involves the agency of 
infinite power. Then, the analogies in nature are not 
direct proofs, but faint emblems of the resurrection of 
the dead. They are merely intimations of God's pur- 
pose concerning the dead, which show that the resurrec- 
tion of the body is in perfect harmony with his thoughts, 



238 HIS OPEN AND EMPTY SEPULCHRE. 

as revealed to us in the reproduction of natural things. 
In this sense, day and night continually manifest a res- 
urrection of the dead. The night lies down, and the day 
rises up : or the day departs, and the night comes on. 
So it is with the fruits of the earth. The seed, is sown 
in the soil ; it dissolves in the course of time, and from 
the dissolution God raises it up again, and from one 
seed brings forth much fruit. Nor is the resurrection a 
fact suggested by reason, or discovered by science. It 
is a proposition without absolute proof, either in the 
broad realm of nature, or the comprehensive province 
of philosophy. Therefore, it is a doctrine belonging ex- 
clusively to the supernatural world. It was shadowed 
forth, only by the types, symbols and prophecies of the 
Old Testament revelation ; and brought fully, and forci- 
bly before the world, only through the teachings, and 
resurrection of the Lord Jesus. His supernatural resur- 
rection is the strongest argument, that can possibly be 
presented in favor of the general resurrection of man- 
kind. It was beyond all cavil, an ocular demonstration 
of the power, and possibility of such a resurrection. 
And the light which has shone from his open, and empty 
sepulchre, for nearly nineteen centuries, is a satisfactory 
pledge to all his faithful followers, that their humanity 
will be completely swallowed up of immortality and 
eternal life, in the morning of the great resurrection. 

The promises of the Bible are the hope of the world. 
These sacred oracles teach us that the resurrection of 
the body is a provision made and embodied in the won- 
derful plan of human redemption, to fit us for the enjoy- 
ment of heaven. Without this gracious provision, death 
would still wave his black banner in triumph over the 



THE FIRST SHEAF OF THE GREAT HARVEST. 239 

tomb ; and his dark shadows would rise to heaven, and 
throw their awful gloom over all our hopes of future 
happiness. For our natural bodies are not suited to 
future glory. If there, clothed in the flesh, we would not 
be happy. The natural eye is dazzled by the light of 
the noon-day sun ; much less could it endure the bright- 
ness and glory of heaven. For the King of Glory 
dwells in light which no man can approach, in the flesh, 
and live. A sight of his divine glory, in its infinite full- 
ness, would be as a devouring fire to the weakness of 
human nature. Therefore, our vile bodies must be 
fashioned like unto his glorified body, before we can 
bask in his holy presence, and drink in the fullness of 
his divine glory. But his providence, his prophecy and 
his promises are all pledged to assure us, that our 
resurrection from the dead will qualify us for heaven 
and immortal glory, if we but fall asleep in Jesus. No 
matter how great the miracle required to change our 
bodies from the mortal to the immortal, that weighs 
nothing when placed in the balances with infinite power. 
Then the consummation of our well-founded hopes is 
certain. For since Christ could not be holden of death, 
neither can those who sleep in Jesus. They must rise 
again. The King is their resurrection and their life ; 
their lives are hid with God in him, therefore, because 
he lives, they shall live also. In other words, the Risen 
Jesus was the first-fruits of those who sleep ; the first 
sheaf of the great coming harvest ; the first trophy won 
from the dark dominions of death ; the first sleeper of 
countless millions to awake from the sleep of death, 
and rise to live for evermore. 

Our Risen King is the great Head of Humanity who 



24O OUR RESURRECTION LIFE. 

led the way from the prison-house of death, up to the 
courts of immortality and eternal life. And his glorified 
body is a pattern, after which he has promised to fash- 
ion the glorified bodies of all his sleeping saints, on the 
morning of the great resurrection. Then our resurrec- 
tion life will be a much higher and holier life than this 
we live in the flesh. It will lift us up to a more elevated 
plane of being, where there will be a much more exten- 
sive unfolding and a decidedly fuller development of all 
our mental, moral and spiritual faculties. This resur- 
rection of the body will complete and perfect in us the 
great work of human redemption. It will reunite a 
redeemed soul with a redeemed body ; and while the 
former is stamped with the image of the Father, it will 
fashion the latter after the likeness of the Son. This 
will perfect man's salvation from the dominion of sin 
and death. And, retaining his wonted identity, with a 
glorified soul in a glorified body, he will enter the 
courts of endless glory, in perfect harmony with all his 
celestial surroundings, a legitimate and honored heir of 
heaven. 

The King's resurrection, then, is the prelude to that 
great coming resurrection, which shall call from their 
sleeping dust all the long line of Adam's apostate race. 
Paul says, that Christ's resurrection proves the resur- 
rection of all men. For since by man came death, by 
man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in 
Adam all die, ev$n so in Christ shall all be made alive. 
But every man in his own order. Christ the first-fruits ; 
afterwards they that are Christ's at his coming. * * * 
But some man will say, How are the dead raised up, 
and with what body do they come ? Thou fool, that 



OUR RESURRECTION BODY. 24I 

which thou sowest is not quickened except it die. * * * 
All flesh is not the same flesh: but* there is one flesh 
of men, another of beasts, another of fishes and another 
of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies 
terrestrial ; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the 
glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory 
of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory 
of the stars ; for one star differeth from another star in 
glory. We understand the apostle to mean, that just 
as the heavenly bodies, the sun, moon and stars tran- 
scend, in beauty and worth, the rugged mountains, dark 
whirlpools and gloomy caverns of earth ; so our resur- 
rected bodies shall be more beautiful and valuable, than 
our natural bodies : that just as one star excels another, 
in beauty, brilliancy and glory, so our celestial bodies 
shall be far more beautiful, and glorious than these vile 
corrupt bodies of ours. For, in this immediate connec- 
tion, he adds, So also is the resurrection of the* dead. 
It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption : 
it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown 
in weakness ; it is raised in power : it is sown a natural 
body; it is raised a spiritual body. Yes, all our bodies 
are to be sown natural bodies — laid in the graves bodies 
of flesh and blood : but on the morning of the resur- 
rection, they will come forth from the tombs spiritual, 
and immortal bodies. For this corruptible must put on 
incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 
* * * Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is 
written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, 
where is thy sting ? O grave, where is thy victory? 
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the 

law. But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory 
16 



242 TH£ RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 

through our Risen Christ. Oh! how glorious this an- 
ticipated victory over death. 

How touchingly sympathetic the soul-inspiring lan- 
guage of the King himself, to the bereaved sisters of 
the dead, and buried Lazarus, upon this all-important 
subject. They came out to meet the Beloved Master, 
fell prostrate at his feet, bathed in tears, and each of them 
said, Lord if thou hadst been here my brother had not 
died. Jesus answered, Thy brother shall live again. 
Martha said, I know he shall live again, in the resurrec- 
tion at the last day. Then Jesus replied, I am the 
resurrection and the life ; he that believeth in me, though 
he were dead, yet shall he live again; and whosoever 
liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Then Jesus 
came weeping to the tomb, commanded them to take 
away the stone, lifted his heart to the Father in prayer 
and cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And 
the dead did come forth, a fit subject to be loosed and 
set at liberty, though bound in grave-clothes. Lazarus 
had been named and numbered among the dead of 
earth, but he arose from the tomb at the call of Jesus, 
in the full possession of life. He had experienced the 
dread mysteries of death, in a four-days journey upon 
its dark and gloomy path; but returned, as much alive 
as ever, at the call of a voice mightier than death. He 
had tested the solemn realities of the grave, in a four- 
nights sleep in its cold, dismal embrace ; but came back 
from the sepulchre, in possession of the fullness of all 
his faculties, and the wonted tenderness of every emo- 
tional feeling, which constituted him the much-beloved 
brother and genial friend, without a trace of the de- 
stroyer's power to be seen upon his old person, or ex- 



PRECIOUS THOUGHTS ON THE RESURRECTION. 243 

perienced in his new lease upon Hfe. The resurrection 
of the King, who thus manifested his power to raise 
others from the dead, has rolled the stone of unbelief 
away from the tomb of human hopes, painted the rain- 
bow of immortality on the black cloud of death and lit 
up the pathway, from this dark world, to the mansions 
of heavenly light. 

There are many precious thoughts connected with 
the resurrection of the dead. We have often felt, in 
contemplating the reunion with loved ones, that we 
would not give up, for this world, the sweet assurance, 
that when we meet a sainted mother, in the glory-land, 
it will be the same mother we loved so well on earth. 
But when we see her there, it will not be as when we 
last saw her here. Her brow will not be furrowed with 
care ; her eyes will not be dimmed with age ; her head 
will not be silvered over with gray hairs ; neither will 
her body be cold, and lifeless in death. But arrayed, 
with all the beauty, grace and glory of spiritual woman- 
hood, she will meet, and greet us with a long and loving 
welcome to the courts of endless life. This is the fash- 
ion, Christian friends, after which we are to meet our 
fathers and mothers, with all our sainted dead, in the 
better world. But for all these lively, and soul-inspiring 
hopes we are indebted to the resurrection, and teachings 
of the Risen Redeemer. 

But there is also a sad thought, yea, a sad reality 
connected with this subject. Marvel not at this, said 
the Saviour, for the day, and the hour is coming, in the 
which all that are in their graves shall come forth, they 
that have done orood unto the resurrection of eternal 
life, but they that have done evil unto the resurrection 



244 A SAD THOUGHT INDEED. 

of damnation. Sad thought indeed ! Heaven have 
mercy on those who are posting their way toward a 
resurrection to eternal death ! Dear dying sinners, since 
life is so uncertain, death inevitable and especially in 
view of the fact that you must rise again, will you allow 
me, as one who loves your souls, to insist on your asking 
yourselves, in the language of another, this one solemn 

question : 

How shall I leave my tomb? 

In triumph, or regret ? 
A fearful, or a joyful doom ? 

A curse, or blessing meet ? 

And since, as death overtakes you, eternity will meet 
you, the judgment greet you and, if finally impenitent, 
hell with all its horrors must receive you, will you not 
also allow me to insist, that you give yourself no peace 
of mind, no ease of conscience, and no rest of soul until, 
in the language of another sweet poet, you can triumph- 
antly sing : 

In expectation sweet, 

I'll wait, and watch, and pray, 

Till Christ's triumphal car I meet 
And see an endless day. 

He will come. We write, as his embassador, to assure 
you that the Great Deliverer will come, death fall beneath 
his sword, his joyful prisoners burst their bars and rise 
to meet their Risen Lord. Then the gladdest song of 
all ages will be heard above the saddest lamentations 
of time — even the song of eternal redemption. 

We have one more thought on this subject, too pre- 
cious to be omitted. In this life, some of us have bodies 
which are maim, lame or halt ; bodies with blinded 



THE MORNING OF THE RESURRECTION. 245 

eyes, deaf ears or faltering tongues ; bodies racked 
with fever, tortured with pain, wasting away with con- 
sumption or bowed down with age and infirmities. But 
thanks be to God, in the morning of the resurrection, 
when the bodies of the sleeping saints shall all come 
floating in upon the spring-tide of immortality and eter- 
nal life, there will be no Paul there troubled with a thorn 
in the flesh, no Moses slow of speech, no Jacob with a 
thigh out of joint, no Lazarus afflicted with sores, no 
Job covered with boils, and no Methuselah bowed down 
with age and infirmities. But, in the language of another 

sweet poet : 

Arrayed in glorious grace, 

Shall these vile bodies shine; 
And every shape, and every face 

Look heavenly and divine. 

Such is the evidence of the King's resurrection ; and 
such its bearing upon our eternal destiny. 




THE ASCENSION OF THE KING. 



Chapter X. 



When he ascended upon high, he led captivity captive. — Eph. 4 : 8. 



The mysterious interval between the resurrection and 
ascension of the King is full of interest and instruction. 
Though still manifesting himself personally to men, the 
Risen Jesus was no longer of earth. He was now 
a spiritual being, from the unknown regions of the dead. 
He appeared to his disciples, only at intervals, leaving 
no trace as to whence he came, or whither he went. 
His visits were much like those of angels in olden 
time. He mingled with men no more, as in the days 
of the flesh. He gathered them no more around the 
festal board. He led his apostles no more, in their 
journeyings over the hills, and through the valleys of 
the Holy Land. The personal familiarity of other days 
would not have been in keeping with his glorified hu- 
manity. They were still of the earth, earthy ; but he 
seemed ready at any moment to lift his glorified body 
up to heaven. Though occassionally in each other's 
presence, they were separated by an infinite distance. 
His disciples were still the heirs of time ; but the King 
was now a being of eternity. They were still mortal ; 
but he had put on immortality. They were still serv- 
ants on earth ; but he was now the King of Heaven. 
(246) 







The Kin^ of Glory. 



THE PRECIOUS VISITATIONS OF THE KING. 247 

These precious visitations of the Glorified King in- 
spired his subjects with renewed zeal, implicit confi- 
dence and the most enthusiastic devotion. They were 
of such a spiritual caste as to convince them, that their 
Master was about to quit this world. So they were grad- 
ually prepared for the separation. Prior to his crucifixion 
he said he had many things to reveal to them, which they 
were not then prepared to receive. But, inasmuch as 
what would have been incomprehensible before his 
death and resurrection, was no longer dark or mysteri- 
ous, being seen in the light of an empty grave and a 
shining cross, he now communicated many important 
truths pertaining to his dual kingdom in the world. 

The crucifixion of the King was a fearful stroke ; but 
his resurrection had imparted a lively hope to his apostles. 
It had taught them how to bring good out of evil, light 
out of darkness and life out of death. It learned them 
to build, out of their deepest griefs and dying hopes, a 
great stairway from earth to heaven. 

Hut the ascension of the King is his transcendent 
miracle. If we had no other evidence of his Messiah- 
ship, than the fact of his reception up into glory, this 
would be sufficient to satisfy any reasonable, or rational 
mind that he was all he claimed to be. He had spoken 
to his apostles, more than once, of his departure from the 
earth — his return to the Father — his ascension to 
heaven. But the time had come for this greatest of all 
miracles — the crowning event in the King's history. 
So about the fortieth clay after his resurrection, in the 
golden light of an oriental noonday's sun, he led his de- 
voted disciples out toward the sacred heights of Bethany. 
They soon reached Mount Olivet; and while they gazed 



248 THE KING'S ASCENSION. 

with admiration, and awe upon the heavenly scene, the 
holy angels descended most gracefully to escort their 
King home to glory. And, as they came, the gentle 
breezes were ladened with the richest freight of melody 
ever wafted through the soft blue skies of the Holy 
Land. His parting benediction was lovingly pro- 
nounced, and thankfully received. Then, unlike the 
prophet Elijah, who was taken to heaven in a fiery char- 
iot, the Risen Redeemer was gently borne upward on a 
fleecy cloud, until' he vanished from their enraptured 
vision. The golden skies formed a radiant vista, 
through which the Glorified King rode up into the 
Heaven of heavens. He ascended with the matchless 
might, and majesty of a God ; and yet with that calm- 
ness, and serenity befitting the genius of his Gospel, 
and the charming characteristics of its Divine Author. 
He speeds his way in triumph over the fields of light 
towards the gates of the Eternal City. And as he 
nears the pearly portals of the peaceful Paradise of God, 
the shining retinue sings with holy, heavenly rapture : 

"High raise your heads, ye lofty gates, 
For see, the King of glory waits; 
Ye everlasting doors arise, 
And make a passage as he flies. 

"But hark! the heavenly hosts inquire, 
Who is this mighty conquering King? 
In cheerful strains the answering choir 
Lift high their voice, and sweetly sing : 

"He is the Lord of boundless might, 
High raise your heads, ye gates of light; 
He conquered death, and hell, and sin ; 
Lift up, ye doors, he shall come in. 



THE REIGN OF THE ASCENDED KING. 249 

u But hark! again the angels say, 
Who is this mighty Conquering King ? 
Who rises to the realms of day ; 

Whose praise with such applause ye sing? 

••The I.or<l. of boundless powei >sed; 

God over all. forever blessed: 

The Lord of hosts, the most renowned, 
The King of endless glory crowned.' - 

So the everlasting doors wore lilted up, and the gates 
of pearl stood wide ajar; while the Conquering King: 
swept in, and up the golden streets of the heavenly 
Jerusalem, mounted his Father's throne and began to 
share that glory with him again, which he enjoyed be- 
fore the world began. 1 le led captivity captive, ascended 
upon high and was received into glory, amid the loudest 
hosannas, and the sweetest hallelujahs of heaven. 

But this Ascended King is ultimately to reign over a 
universal kingdom, and reign eternally. 1 lis mediatorial 
dominion shall become universal on the earth, and his 
triumphant reign will l>e eternal in heaven. Jesus is 
the legitimate King oi Zion, the acknowledged Heir to 
Israel's throne. Therefore he has a legal right to rule. 
But he is also King, by divine appointment, and was 
anointed of the Lord, with an unction which vested him 
with all power, and supreme authority, both on earth 
and in heaven. Then, trie Kino's right to exercise all 
the regal functions pertaining to a universal kingdom, 
and to enjoy all the royal privileges of a great spiritual 
sovereignty can not be called in question. He is no 
usurper. And though he was forced to wade through 
blood to the throne; it was his own precious blood, spilt 
for the redemption of the world. He was a Sovereign 



25O THE ETERNAL KING REIGNS ETERNALLY. 

from all eternity. He ever exercised the functions of a 
Rightful Ruler. As Deity, a necessary, and essential 
dominion belongs to him, which is without beginning of 
time, or end of days. His divine prerogatives remain 
ever the same. He is the Eternal King; and must there- 
fore exercise universal dominion, and reign eternally. 

This Ascended King, as the world's Mediator, acts 
by divine appointment. He wields only a delegated 
power. However, this appointment antedates the fall 
of man. But not until after his ascension, was the King 
vested with the full authority of his mediatorial reign. 
It was not until then, that his regal splendors, as Medi- 
ator, were unveiled to men and angels. It was then 
that his diadem of glory first shone forth, with trans- 
cendent, and uniform lustre. But this appointment, of 
the Son to the regal office, did not divest the Father of 
his inherent right to reign. Nor was this special dele- 
gation of divine authority, to the Mediatorial King, any 
surrender of dominion upon the part of the Holy Trin- 
ity. The Godhead always holds the balance of power, 
and reigns in perfect harmony, through the joint will, 
and common purpose of its triune existence, no matter 
which person of the Trinity serves as the Executive of 
the divine administration. But this Mediatorial King 
shall continue to reign ; for no power can stay the progress 
of his dual kingdom towards universal dominion. The 
heathen may rage ; the people imagine vain things, and 
the rulers of the earth take council together against the 
Anointed of the Lord, but the broad empire of King 
Emmanuel shall continue to grow — dominion after do- 
minion, and kingdom after kingdom shall be added unto 
it, until it includes all the kino-doms of this world. For, 



HIS UNIVERSAL REIGN. 25 1 

" Jesus shall reign, where'er the sun 
Doth his successive journeys run; 
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, 
Till moons shall wax and wane no more." 

The name of Jesus is a great factor, in the world's his- 
tory, which increases in power, with every succeeding 
generation. The divine potency of his lessons and life, 
in their sacred influence upon men, has penetrated, and 
is leavening the great mass of humanity. 

But the dreadful contest for supremacy, which has 
been raging for six thousand years between good and 
evil, in this world, has shown Jesus to be a King, who 
has never ceased to reign in, and rule over the hearts 
of his subjects. Every official act of his, down through 
the passing ages, prior to, and after his incarnation, 
was a demonstration of his kingship. At his nativity 
he did not simply enter upon, but was already in pos- 
session of, his royal prerogatives. He was born a King. 
Heaven and earth both bestowed royal honors upon 
him, at his birth. His disciples recognized his right 
to reign, even during the period of his deepest hu- 
miliation ; and Pilate honored him with the title of 
King, while hanging, like a vile malefactor, upon the 
Roman cross. And ever since then the weight of his 
royal sceptre has been felt among the nations ; and his 
universal authority will soon be acknowledged by all 
the kings of the earth. For his Father hath made him 
his first-born, higher than, or supreme over, the kings 
of the earth. And, as King of Nations, he hath prom- 
ised him universal dominion in the world. So all 
earthly rulers, whether great or small, subordinate or 
supreme ; all civil authorities, whether legislative, judi- 



252 THE MILLENNIAL REIGN. 

cial or executive, are finally to recognize him as Chief 
Magistrate of the world, vested with supreme authority, 
and exercising universal dominion. Yes, the period is 
hastening on, by sacred bards foretold, when all nations 
will gladly rally around the standard of the cross ; and 
then the broad empire of heaven's Ascended King will 
know no bounds, save those of a boundless universe. 

A peaceful, prosperous and happy reign awaits this 
King of kings on earth. This mighty empire which he 
is establishing in the world, upon the pure principles of 
undying, self-sacrificing love, will never perish. Its sway 
over the hearts and consciences of men will grow wider 
and deeper with the march of time ; and finally ripen 
into universal, and perfect adoration, during the millen- 
nial reign of a thousand years, which shall gladden all 
hearts and homes on earth. 

Having crossed the threshold of death, and conquered 
the king of terrors, the King of Glory claims the trophies 
of his matchless victory and asserts his right to lead forth 
the captives rescued from the dominions of darkness 
and death, into his blessed kingdom of endless light and 
life. He will make good his claim to be the resurrec- 
tion and the life of his sleeping saints. He is the only 
hope of a dead and dying world. He has promised his 
saints, that they shall sail over the bright ocean of eter- 
nity beyond the dark sea of time. He says, The dark- 
ness of death shall withdraw her sable curtains from the 
tombs of the just and the morning of the resurrection 
light up, with her immortal rays, the glories of an eter- 
nal day. In the lapse of time, this Conquering King 
will trample down the dominions of death and hell, and 
lead captivity captive, the ransomed millions of earth. 



THE KING S SECOND COMING. 253 

For this Ascended King, accompanied by legions of 
angels, shall come again upon the rolling clouds of 
heaven, in like manner as he went up to glory. But he 
shall come without sin unto salvation. And seated in 
mid-air, upon his great white throne, fit emblem of his 
imperial justice, he will call the world to judgment. The 
mighty archangel will step forth; and placing one foot 
upon the land and one upon the sea, with his silver 
trumpet he will sound the funeral note of time. He 
will blow a blast so loud and shrill, that it will awake the 
dead of earth on land and in sea. Then we will all 
appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Infinite 
wisdom will characterize all the proceedings of the Just 
Judge. And his matchless power will be a compliment 
to his infinite wisdom. All who pass through the life 
and death tests of this dread judgment, will be forced 
to submit to his infinitely just and righteous decisions. 
Even the condemned will have to say amen to their own 
eternal damnation. 

This Celestial Conqueror will not leave the field of 
battle, until he makes all enemies his footstool; and 
sways a universal and unlimited sceptre over the world. 
" For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under 
his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is 
death." Yes, even death, that grim monster of despair, 
which for six thousand years has laid his cold and icy 
fingers upon the lovely, the beautiful and the good of 
earth, that demon of darkness, who has claimed for his 
prey the king upon his throne, as well as the peasant 
in his lowly cot, that iron-clad warrior of hell, who 
has numbered the millions of our race, with the 
pale-sheeted nations, which now sleep in the quiet 



254 THE TRIUMPHS OF ANCIENT CONQUERORS. 

cities of the dead, shall at length meet with a shame- 
ful and ignominious defeat. Even death shall be swal- 
lowed up in victory, at the last grand and glorious 
conquest of the Victorious King upon earth. For he 
will snatch those who remain alive at his coming, from 
the very jaws of death ; and, with those who come 
forth from their graves, they shall be caught up with 
him in the air. And then the melting firmament of the 
heavens will echo to the triumphant shouts of the re- 
deemed, " O death, where is thy sting ? O grave, where 
is thy victory? The sting of "death is sin; and the 
strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who 
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ/' 

In ancient times, all noted conquerors followed their 
conquests with triumphal marches. Returning, with the 
spoils of war, and the captives taken, the conqueror, in 
the van of his victorious army, with kings and noted 
captives chained to his chariot wheels, would march, in 
triumphal procession, to marshal music which stirred the 
public heart, and fired the patriotism of the populace, 
until the city rang with the shouts of applause, and 
honor to the victor and his victorious army. These 
processions were the glory of nations — the consumma- 
tion of long-repeated struggles and conquests — the 
crowning days of hard-fought battles and bloody vic- 
tories. They were days of national triumph, and per- 
sonal honor, which marked new epochs in the history of 
nations ; and gave fame and fortune to the world's 
historic heroes. 

So the Ascended King is only waiting the consum- 
mation of his work on earth, to have his triumphal 
march. He is only waiting the day of finished victory, 



THE KING S TRIUMPHAL MARCH. 555 

when, accompanied by legions of angels, he will come, 
gather up the redeemed of earth — the trophies of his 
matchless victory, and take up his heavenly march for 
the city of the New Jerusalem. Grand, glorious and 
triumphant indeed will be the march of this victorious 
army, with the Captain of our Salvation in the van of his 
shining retinue, which will fill the heavens with its glory. 
There will be no captives, in that procession, groan- 
ing, and wreaking in blood, at his chariot-wheels. But 
the Conqueror and the conquered will all rejoice to- 
gether, as they speed on in triumph over the plains of 
light, toward the Blessed City. Listen ! ye lovers of 
marshal music, to the grand chorus which bows the 
lofty heavens to lend a listening ear to its melting 
strains — music far sweeter than the chorus of the morn- 
ing stars which sang together at creation's birth. Oh! 
for the tongue of Dante to sing, as, from the 'highest 
circle of Paradise, he beheld the magnificent vision of 
all the events of time consummated in this heavenly 
march, and sang in holy exultation, 

" Behold the hosts 
Of Christ's tiiumphal march, and all the fruit 
Harvested by the rolling of the spheres." 

Oh ! for the vision of Kepler to discern, in the move- 
ments of the planets, the timing of Messiah's advent ; 
and see all the heavenly bodies marshalled to do him 
homage, and furnish music for his celestial march. Oh ! 
for the fire of Handel to kindle prophecy, story and suf- 
fering into song; and set all things in earth and heaven, 
from the symphony of shepherds to the grand chorus of 
archangels, aglow with the music of the Conquering 
King's triumphal march. But neither Dante, Kepler 



256 HOSANNAS AND HALLELUJAHS OF WELCOME. 

nor Handel, though they called upon all things celestial 
and terrestrial, physical and moral, visible and invisible, 
ever reached the lofty strains of the sweet singer of Is- 
rael, when he tunes his lay to immortal eloquence, and 
sings, as the heavenly hosts sweep on toward the New 
Jerusalem. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye 
lifted up, ye everlasting doors ; and the King of Glory 
shall come in. Who is this King of Glory ? inquire the 
keepers of the gates. The Lord strong and mighty, 
the Lord mighty in battle, is the response. Then the 
grand chorus salutes their ears again, Lift up your 
heads, O ye gates ; even lift them up, ye everlasting 
doors ; and the King of Glory shall come in. Who is 
this King of Glory ? The Lord of hosts, he is the King 
of Glory. 

The pearly gates fly open; the Conquering King 
passes in, in triumph, with his ransomed hosts, and the 
inquiry comes : Who are these ? The answer is given : 
These are they, who came up through many tribula- 
tions, have washed their robes and made them white in 
the blood of the Lamb. And the Eternal City rings 
with the loud hosannas, and sweet hallelujahs of wel- 
come to the Triumphant King, and his victorious army. 

Honor, majesty and dominion, be unto him, who sit- 
teth upon the Throne of thrones, as Lord of lords for- 
ever, and ever, for he is the King of Glory. 




Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
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Treatment Date: July 2005 

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A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

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